


Morning Coffee

by Pengoop



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Barista Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Flair baristas, Flair bartending, Fluff, M/M, More tags to be added as story progresses, Mostly Eren just an FYI, Multi, POV Eren Yeager, POV First Person, POV Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Past Levi/Erwin Smith, Romantic Comedy, Slow Build, Swearing, Titan-Haired Eren Yeager, how slow? idk I'll figure it out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-16
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-09 02:25:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1965414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pengoop/pseuds/Pengoop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren Jaeger and his family moved from their comfortable Shiganshina home into Sina, a big city that is nothing like the area he knew his whole life. There couldn't be a more inconvenient time than right before his and his sister's senior year for his father to be offered a job he couldn't refuse. </p><p>A new café opens across the street, and nobody will shut up about it. One particular barista seems to be the main attraction, and Eren decides to see what all the commotion is about for himself. What if the barista takes an interest in him? What if it's the other way around? </p><p>He's already busy enough, struggling to find his place in the school. And that's not to mention keeping up with his family life, which is beginning to look less and less like the perfection he remembered it being.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Go From Excited to Nervous Every 5 Seconds

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfiction I wrote with canon characters and also my first AU, so I'm gaining experience as I go. Chapters will likely be edited and updated with better/additional writing often, but they shouldn't be major. 
> 
> There's a lot of backstory and introductions, so please bear with me for now. 
> 
> You can find me at pengoop.tumblr.com  
> Edited by Chloe, at http://sail-to-mithlond.tumblr.com/

I woke to the screech of my alarm, whose volume was set much higher than necessary to wake me up. I was never a deep sleeper anyways, so I have no idea why I thought it was a good idea to have the alarm beep so loudly. I’d often find myself stirring awake even before I had planned to the sounds of Mikasa getting herself ready in the morning, though she was often very quiet. She usually woke earlier than me, around 6 on most days. I used to think she was insane for getting up so early, but it made sense when you thought about it. She did more things in the morning before going to school than I did, and didn’t have to rush through any of it either. I wish I had that much willpower.

I hit a button on my clock to stop it from ringing and lay down for a few more minutes before getting up from my bed. I somehow dozed off again with the help of the plush mattress, fluffy pillows and soft duvet. After waking for a second time, I glanced at the clock to check if I let myself rest for too long. I let out of a sigh of relief after seeing that it read only 7:12 in bright green lights. I pushed myself up, albeit a bit reluctantly, and headed to the bathroom down the hall. The house still felt a little foreign, though we’ve settled in for nearly two months.

It was slightly larger than our previous home, and definitely had a more modern design to it. I remember feeling like I woke up somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be when we first moved in. I grew up in a completely different place and stayed there for quite awhile. Shiganshina was a nice town, and though it wasn’t the richest or nicest area, I liked it. The streets were always full of life and my family was able to live fairly comfortably. Sina was quite the opposite; the capital of the country, a big city with bright lights, businesses booming, people constantly chattering. It was always busy around here, and tourists would often roam the streets to take in everything Sina had to offer. It was a highly developed area with a great growing economy, but even then, it was home to different historical landmarks and large parks every nature lover wanted to visit.

I still thought about Shiganshina a lot. Leaving was hard at first, that town was all I ever knew. Mikasa, my best friend Armin and I knew every corner of the place, spending countless hours outside nearly every day. I knew Armin since I was a toddler, when his parents were still around. We read a lot of books about some of the most beautiful and mysterious things that were the world. We took a particular interest in the sea and vowed to travel together to experience everything with our own eyes. His parents went travelling when he was about 8 or so, which is when they passed away in a plane crash. He had to live with his grandfather after that, and began to cry even more often than he did before. I couldn’t blame him.

Mikasa came into our lives shortly after that. My family knew hers for awhile, but I didn’t meet her until her parents suffered a tragic fate as well, though it was a completely different situation than Armin’s. We didn’t like to talk about it. Or think about it, for that matter. And that’s when I snapped back into reality. I was brushing my teeth mindlessly, not doing a very good job at actually cleaning them. I finished the job properly in about a minute before climbing into the shower. I’d have an excuse to think more in there.

Today would be our first day at our new school. It was a painfully inconvenient time for us to be moving, but my dad had a promotion and we couldn’t really protest. He was a local doctor before, but his research gained enough attention for him to get a chance to work in a larger establishment. The opportunity meant a lot to him, and the extra pay would be nice. Though we would be leaving before our senior year, neither me nor Mikasa had many close friends in the area. We had been attending the highschool we had been fed into while Armin had applied to study at Sina Academy already. I envied my two best friends’ mental ability.

I ran my fingers through my hair and gave it a good rinse before stepping out. I dried myself off and wrapped the towel around my waist, walking towards the fogged mirror. I flipped a switch to turn on the fan and went back to my room to get dressed before fixing my hair. I checked the clock again, and my time was running short. My uniform was already laid out from the night before and I was actually thankful I wouldn’t have to worry about pulling and outfit together. The uniform was simple and didn’t look too bad, consisting of a white button up and dark blue dress pants. I slipped on the dark green tie, which was meant to match the school’s crest, a unicorn, on the left pocket of the shirt. I made some minor adjustments, straightening out my shirt and loosening the tie, before going to fix my hair in the bathroom.

The mirror had cleared up for the most part, and I was able to see my reflection in it well enough. My hair was still a bit damp, so I grabbed a towel from the small pile sitting in the cabinet. I removed most of the remaining moisture from it and put the towel back down. I began to brush my hair, which was probably my least favourite part of my morning routine. It had to be done just perfectly, or else my hair would be a complete mess. Sometimes I didn’t think it was worth it, since it would never hold for more than half the day. It took nearly another ten minutes before I was satisfied, and I’d really have to hurry to make it to school in time. My hair was starting to look a bit long, now that it wasn’t a bed head. Maybe I should cut it soon.

I strode down the stairs quickly, stretching my body out at the same time. I finally met Mikasa and my mother in the kitchen, who were making breakfast. I was so lucky that I had them. I gave them a polite hello as I fixed myself a coffee and sat down at the table, where my dad was reading a newspaper.

“Morning, father.” I said simply, taking a seat two down from where he sat. He looked up and nodded in my direction before directing his attention to the paper again. We didn’t have the best relationship, as he was somewhat distant, always invested in his work. He could be strict and intimidating at times, but I couldn’t blame him. He was a father, and I knew he cared in the end.

The smell of freshly baked muffins filled the air as my mother came into the room. She handed me my breakfast and kissed my forehead. “Have fun at school dear.” I smiled and gave her a warm hug. My dad chimed in as well, though he didn’t look up at me this time. “Try not to get into trouble.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry about it.”

Mikasa entered the room a couple minutes later, half way through her breakfast muffin. She stood beside me and waited in silence for me to finish my coffee. I gulped down the last of the drink, feeling much better than I did before, with the caffeine beginning to kick in. I got up from my seat and followed Mikasa to the door. She made sure to wrap her red scarf around her neck before leaving, a gift I gave to her before she joined our family. I didn’t expect for her to wear it so often, but it was a nice sentiment. We double checked we had all of our essentials; keys, phone, and wallet, and opened the door.

The two of us walked to the bus stop, mostly in silence. We didn’t have to say much to each other, it was just fine the way it was. We didn’t have to wait long to board the bus, and I was pretty glad. The weather was shittier than I expected, and the less time I had to spend outside, the better. We took our seats at the back of the bus and waited until our stop came up. It was a one-way trip, but it took about half an hour to get to school. Judging by the time we left, we would be able to make it just before the bell. Mikasa would want to leave earlier tomorrow, I was sure of it. She only waited for me each day because she thought I would get myself into something otherwise.

I stared out the window, watching the quieter area that we lived in slowly turn into the main city where Sina Academy was located. More buildings began to appear, along with more people. Our family has been here quite a few times in the pass, but I still kept finding new things that caught my interest. The graffiti on the walls or shops I haven’t seen before, different events and different people. There was always so much going on. It was a bit overwhelming.

I turned to Mikasa, who had closed her eyes with earbuds playing music softly. I nudged her arm to get her attention. “Hm? What is it Eren?” she said, her dark eyes meeting mine.

“Are you nervous? You know, about Sina.” I wasn’t sure how I felt myself.

“No.” She shrugged, removing her earbuds before continuing. “Armin goes there, and we already visited it before we moved here. It should be fine.”

Oh. Right. I almost forgot about Armin, and that lifted my spirits more than it should have. We still saw each other a lot before we moved, but now it would be just like elementary school again. Our trio against the world. I grabbed my phone to text him, sending a quick message asking about where to meet up. It made me feel a lot better, and I hoped we’d have enough time to catch up before classes started. I was still a bit uneasy with the idea of having to meet all these other new people though, I couldn’t stay with the other two the whole year.

What if they didn’t like me? What if _I_ didn’t like _them_? Would I have good teachers? W-

My thoughts were interrupted by the buzz of my phone, and Armin’s name was displayed on the screen. I quickly unlocked it to see what he had to say.

Armin: Meet me at exit 5A :) Excited to see you guys again.

Not like I knew where that was anyway. I typed up a reply, our conversation holding out for the rest of the ride.

E.J: sure thing and u 2  
E.J: ill b there in 10 in somthin

A.A: Alright!  
A.A: Some of my other friends will be around too.

E.J: o wow, im hurt armin  
E.J: i thought i was ur best bro  
E.J: thx a lot

A.A: Haha, don’t play jealous Eren. I know you wanted to meet them. :P

E.J: lol fine u got me

Mikasa pressed a button on the pole beside the seats and began walking to the exit of the bus. I grabbed my bag off the before and stumbled over behind her, waiting for the vehicle to get to our stop. It was located directly in front of the large institution, which was larger than I remembered, to be honest. An extravagant fountain was in the center of the lot, featuring the school unicorn again. People were littered around in small groups, some hanging by the gates, others around the entrances. I told Mikasa about where Armin wanted us to find him, and she had no trouble locating the door he was waiting at.

His eyes lit up when he caught sight of us, and I’d be lying if I said that mine weren’t as well. We didn’t get to see him since we moved to the new house in the summer, as he still lived in Shiganshina while attending this damn fancy building of a school. He got up from the ground and hugged the two of us tightly. We were all grinning like fools, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.

Armin introduced us to some of the others, who didn’t seem like people that would all hang out together. To his right, there was a big beefy guy, who looked like he lived in the gym. Beside him was a freakishly tall black haired male who was leaning on the wall. A girl with blonde hair had her arms crossed, and something about her kind of freaked me out. She gave off the impression that she was somewhat bored, but also had a cold, analyzing stare.To Armin's left, there was a very kind looking person with freckles dusting his cheeks. And then, there was the guy who didn't even try to hide the fact that he was ogling my adoptive sister.

This was going to be one hell of a year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it was alright, next chapter is probably coming on the weekend. :) Expect frequent updates during the summer.
> 
> Kudos, bookmarks, and comments are very appreciated.


	2. Everybody's Insane and I Think That's a Good Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren gets through the first long day of school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More intros and stuff, sorry! >  
> Find me at pengoop.tumblr.com  
> Edited by Chloe, find her at sail-to-mithlond.tumblr.com

I discovered I was in the same homeroom class as a couple of the others when the bell rang a not long after we met Armin’s friends. I was unfortunate enough to be placed with the kid named ‘Jean Kirstein’. It didn’t take me long to  dislike the horse-faced bastard who tried to get into Mikasa’s pants. Even if he didn’t do that earlier, it was still painfully obvious that he was an obnoxious, annoying prick. I could go on and on about all of his negative qualities, but that would mean I would be wasting my time on somebody who wasn’t worth it. I ended up sitting at the back to avoid attracting attention and the Jean kid sat two seats down to my right. That was already too close for my liking.

I scanned the room to see if I recognized anybody else. Armin showed Mikasa and I some pictures of him and his classmates before we moved into Sina, and there were also the people we met earlier. There was only one person that looked vaguely familiar, excluding Jean. It was a girl with dark brown hair tied into a high ponytail, leaning her chair back so far that I thought she was going to fall over. She sat diagonally from my seat, and was holding something round in her hand, which she kept moving around to emphasize the words she spoke. She took a bite of it - Was that a _potato_? I had no idea who the rest of my classmates were, but if the next week or two go as planned, I would know their names and hopefully make some friends.

The sound of loud teens yelling and blasting music from their phones filled the room, it was almost too much to handle. I could feel a headache coming on. To my relief, the teacher walked in before anything too crazy happened. I lifted my head to get a better look at my new English teacher. I really didn’t want to get stuck with another monotone geezer. I was pleasantly surprised. The man stood tall and proud, you could just feel the confidence emanating from him. He was a big guy, maybe six foot, give or take a few inches. His shoulders were broad and you could see his muscles under his shirt. He was dressed formally but his outfit didn’t feel overly professional. His top was a light blue button up which fit him well, paired with dark pants and a fancy looking watch. My eyes moved up from his body to his face. He kept his blonde hair parted to one side, and kept his icy gaze on the class. They moved back and forth as he scanned the rows of desks. His eyebrows were kind of large, but he had a very calm expression. I couldn’t help but think, _are you Captain America_?

“You’re a new face here.” He stated, staring at me right in the eye.

Oh fuck, please don’t tell me I said that outloud.

“And you did say say that outloud, if you were wondering.”

“Oh, I- I’m so-”

“No need to apologize. Please introduce yourself.”

“E-Eren Jaeger. I moved from Shiganshina to Sina during the summer sir.”

He nodded in acknowledgment and welcomed me to the school. Some of the students were watching, but there were quite a few that didn’t really care much. They had their own business to worry about, more important things than a new kid in the city. The teacher introduced himself as Mr. Smith for the students that haven’t heard of him, but I felt that it was mainly for me. The majority of the students appeared to be extremely familiar with him, some of them going so far as referring to him with his first name. I couldn’t hear it properly, but he seemed used to it and was not bothered. Class went on with nothing too unusual occurring, except the occasional out-of-context statements from conversations I wasn’t supposed to be a part of. Something about a squirrel getting high on nuts and a student talking about getting spanked. I don’t think I really wanted to know what’s going on.

 

* * *

 

I had biology next period. Jean was in the same class as me again, along with the freckled guy and a few others from English. The class was even more berserk than the last - I didn’t even know that was possible, but it was. It was a relief when the teacher burst into the room, carrying a towering stack of textbooks. Her entry pulled me back into reality as I was on the brink of spacing out. The books were dropped onto the table with a thud, surprisingly staying in the pile instead of falling off of it. She greeted the class with just as much energy as the students, if not more, informing everybody to refer to her as Hanji Zoe. I personally found it a bit odd that she would reveal her entire name on the first day of classes. She went on and on, blabbing about herself and the curriculum and all the things we’d do and her personal work. It was intriguing at first, but she lost my attention after ten minutes of sciencey bullshit. I liked this kind of stuff, don’t get me wrong, but this was too much for my brain to handle right after summer vacation. The whole class was spent with her speaking, although nobody was actually listening to her rambles. It was as though she spoke to herself.

 

* * *

 

Lunchbreak was very much appreciated after all that insanity. I was growing a bit bored, probably because of how lonely I was in those classes. Back in Shiganshina, I used to be one of those loud, sociable people. I prayed that I would be able to get back to that soon. Armin had beat me to setting up a location to meet up and eat together. Though I had to ask a few people for directions, it didn’t take me too long to find him sitting at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. He was waving his arm with a large grin on his face. I dashed in his direction, muttering a few apologies for bumping in to other students on the way to the table.

I ruffled up his hair as I walked past him, diving into the seat at the end of the bench beside him. The same group of people from the morning were with us at the table, divided into the same smaller groups within the larger. Two others came dashing towards us, racing each other to get the seat beside Mr. Freckles. The bald guy got there before the girl, the one who was the one eating during English. He laughed, slamming his fist onto the the table in triumph. The girl huffed, shoving the other guy playfully. They made themselves comfortable  and calmed down for a second until the girl leaned into the guy, smacking her hands onto his shoulders.

“Connie, buy me food.” She whined, dragging out the ‘oo’ sound in the last word.

“Sasha, I don’t even have enough money to buy more than a bag of chips! It’s your fault you already ate in first period”

The girl began sobbing into his back, with the occasional cry of ‘Connie why’ and similar statements. This went on for awhile until he gave in and offered her some of his own packed lunch. She cheered up immediately and began her attack on the food. I swear the meal was being inhaled by her; she bit and  chewed and swallowed everything so quickly. The bald guy couldn’t even get  half of it before everything was consumed by the other. She didn’t look satisfied with the amount of food that she ate and began to weep into him again. I watched their little fiasco as I bit into the sandwich that mom made for me. I swallowed the bite and turned my attention to Mikasa, who was eating a similar sandwich herself.

“How did your classes go?” I asked, biting into another bite of meaty goodness.

“It was...interesting.”

The two of us discussed the events of our classes, though she had a lot more to say about hers. It wasn’t that my classes were boring or anything, but I wasn’t really aware of what was happening around me. I was mostly in my own little world, day dreaming or completely spacing out. That or everything was so loud that you couldn’t hear one thing from the other. I told her a bit about my teachers and what they were like, which brought Armin into our conversation. He mentioned how he had Hanji teach him for his grade ten science class, but wouldn’t go into detail. He just said to ‘wait and see’ for ourselves. I guess that was a good thing?

 

* * *

 

 

Lunch was over before I knew it, so I grabbed my bag and reluctantly made my way to the gym. Working out usually made me feel pretty good, but running right after eating was not pleasant. The coach was already there, thumbing through folders to find the attendance slip for our class. He wore a displeased expression, declaring his name to be Keith Shadis, though he firmly expressed that he was to be referred to as ‘sir’ at all times. No exceptions. He directed us to arrange ourselves in alphabetical order. He went down the rows and demanded us for our names, grade, and homeroom teacher before we got into our gym uniforms in the changeroom. With a ‘J’ last name, I was situated somewhere in the middle of the lines. As the coach began to take attendance, I started to notice people I’ve seen before.

“I-I’m Marco Bodt! Grade 12, Mr. Dok. Sir!” Freckle kid said, looking a bit nervous with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head. He let out a breath of relief when stepped to the next person

“Reiner Braun, sir. Senior year, Mr. Pixis. ”  The big guy I saw earlier wore a smug expression, Mr. Shadis checking off his name while giving him a death glare. I guess they had _that_ type of a teacher-student relationship. He went through another group of people until I saw more familiar faces.

“Bertholt Hoover, senior year, Mr. Pixis as well sir.” He also looked overly calm.

I saw the coach approaching the ‘J’s after going through the other students and I began to tense up. “And who the hell are you, kid? Never seen you before.”

“Eren Jaeger sir! I’ve transferred from Shiganshina High for senior year into Mr. Smith’s class sir!” He gave me a grunt and checked off my name. I felt relief sweep over me as he moved onto the others.

“I’m Jean Kirstein sir!” Oh fuck, him _again_? “12th grade, Mr. Smith!” The bastard was too enthusiastic about this whole ordeal.

After getting through nearly the whole alphabet, the whole class was to run laps for the remainder of the period. It wasn’t that long anymore; the class was large and the introductions took up at least half an hour. Yet still, running as long as we could wasn’t a good diagnostic in my eyes. I sighed, obeying without protest. I liked to run, so it could’ve been a lot worse for me. When I was younger, I’d often challenge people to races out on the streets. The tall kid passed by me, but he had an unfair advantage. With legs like those, one stride of his was equal to two or even three of mine.

Sweaty and tired, the teacher cut us off and unlocked the door the changeroom. My shirt clung to my back, and I could see the sweat on it after peeling it off. Gross. I changed from my shorts to the school dress pants, and tried to fix my hair a bit before packing everything up. It was sticky and didn’t want to cooperate. Weren’t there showers in here? For such a high-class school, why weren’t there any? I slung my bag over my back and made my way out. About to open the door, I heard water hit the floor. Oh. So it was just me that would feel disgusting during last period.

The Marco guy walked out with a towel around his waist and met my gaze. He smiled at me and began to speak. “Oh Eren! Did you get a chance to wash up? I was going to show you where the showers were, but Jean didn’t want to wait for me to join him.” I blinked - That sounded a lot more sexual than it should have. Marco noticed what he said and began to blush, moving his hands around frantically. “No no no! Not in that way! We didn’t do anything like that at all!”

I chuckled. “It’s okay, I knew that you didn’t mean that.”  He looked less tense after I assured him that I wasn’t picturing him and Jean in compromising positions. I liked to think that I’d never imagine that, but the mental images forced themselves in. It was horrific. Marco waved goodbye when Jean put his arm around him, leading him into the other room to dry off and put on their uniforms. I checked my watch and grumbled. There wouldn’t enough time to shower now.

 

* * *

 

I had to go up from the first floor to the third to get to Chemistry. I was forced to walk through the halls if I didn’t want to get in trouble with the monitors, but the second I was out of their vision, I raced up the stairs and began searching for room 308. All the science classes were in one section, so I checked around Hanji’s class. By the time I found it, I had exactly 10 seconds to get in before being marked as late.

Mikasa and Armin already took seats at the front, and saved me one dead center. I would usually complain, but there were no other seats available around them. This was the only class I had with either of them, let alone together, so I had to treasure the time. I knew the faces of the students in this class more than any other. Reiner, Bertholt, and the blonde girl took up seats behind us. The pair I observed at lunch were in the back-right corner, Jean and Marco as well. People from my other classes were scattered throughout the room.

I had a feeling this was going to be the best part of the school day, apart from lunch hour and the last bell. But then I came to a grim realization. I had my entire semester with Sarah Jessica Parker’s male fucking twin. The horse faced little shit was in every class I was in today. There wasn’t one period I was free from him. I swear, his laugh sounded like the neigh of the dying equine king. How was I supposed to come remotely close to enjoying school now?

I  tried to not think about that any longer and just enjoy being with the people I knew for pretty much my whole life. Last period went by quicker than any of the others, and the teacher seemed to be decent enough. All of them did, except maybe Mr. Shadis. Phys Ed already felt like military training. When the bell rang, everybody rushed out the door and got outside as quickly as possible. I waited for Mikasa and Armin before leaving. The three of us head down the stairs and waited at the bus stop together. Armin stayed in a dorm during the school year, but he insisted in coming with us before leaving.

I heard a lot of noise coming from across the street. I lifted my head up to see what was going on, my eyes catching sight of a huge crowd. No, a _colossal_ crowd. Students and other people were all surrounding one of the buildings. People were peering through the window or lined up to get into whatever it was. I couldn’t see past all those bodies, but I took a mental note to check it out tomorrow. Or try to. I doubted that it would be a simple and quick task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Levi and others in the next chapter, I promise!


	3. Anything Involving Coffee Turns Me On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren visits the cafe, which is even better than he expected. The barista catches his attention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeyeyeyeye levi is in this
> 
> Find me at pengoop.tumblr.com  
> Currently unedited.
> 
> I've edited literally just the last sentence of ch 2 and the texting format.

The second day went a little smoother than the first. I felt that a morning routine was starting to form and it didn’t take me as long to get myself ready in the morning this time. The best part was that my alarm wasn’t blaring anymore. Everything went quite smoothly, which I was grateful for. I felt more in control and less anxious about school. It was a nice a feeling. I was even able to help out with breakfast and have a semi-pleasant conversation with my dad. It mostly consisted of him talking about work while I nodded and drank coffee.

Coffee. I could remember some people talking about a new café that opened around Sina Academy. Was that why there was all the commotion yesterday? I added a reminder on my phone so I would visit the place after class, but it’d be hard to forget with the mob that’d probably be outside again. At least there was something new to look forward to today. Yeah, school would be lively, but it couldn’t hurt to hit this place up as well.

Class went well enough, and it was slightly easier to find the room I was supposed to be in. I accidentally walked into a freshman math class, but I backed out before many people could see me. Those niner kids knew the building better than I did, having a proper orientation and all. We got a quick tour, but I didn’t take in even close to as much as Mikasa did. I think I just stared at my phone for the most of it, even though I don’t recall doing anything on it. I’d find my way around eventually.

I found myself shaking my knee up and down under the desk in anticipation. I was watching the second hand on the clock tick, counting down _ten, nine, eight..._ I was too excited. I could tell that a lot of people were also wanting to go to the café, but I doubted that it was really going to be their highlight of the day like it was for me. _Seven, six, five, four…_ I shoved the last of my things in my bag. _Three, two…_ I gripped the strap so I could sling my bag over my shoulder. _One...Ring._ I practically raced out the door and down the stairs to get outside. Armin called after me, telling me to wait, but I really didn’t want to spend more time in a line than I needed to. They weren’t far behind me, and I’d save them a spot if I made it there before them.

By the time I made it outside, a small but quickly growing line was in sight. As soon as the streetlight signalled it was safe to walk, I sped across the road and skidded to a halt in front of the shop. Without all the people, I could see the building a lot better. A stone-brick design covered the entirety of windows with the name of the coffee shop written above it. The Wall. How original. I never would’ve guessed. The script in which it was written was a cross between military and cursive calligraphy, if that was even possible. Whatever it was, I liked it. I turned my head to look at a small chalkboard sign displaying a sample of the menu and listing the item of the day. Little humanoid creatures ran across the bottom, which appeared to be the mascots of the café. Some were larger than others, but they all looked a bit mangled in their own way, with disproportionate body parts and had one common feature - abnormally large mouths. They were kind of cute, but creepy over anything else.

The line moved up until I was standing right underneath the door frame, and I could see more of the inside now. There were still too many people blocking my vision to get a good look, but I could see that all of the walls were covered by enormous murals. The same wall pattern on the windows continued inside, against a magnificent painting of the sky during sunset. The blue transitioned nicely into the orange, and the dim but adequate lighting added to the effect. It was beautiful. The whole shop was a work of art itself.

I took a few more steps forward, and the smell of fresh coffee flooded my senses. The scent was like sex to my nostrils. Wait fuck, that sounds disgusting. But that _exquisite_ , _perfect_ , absolutely _amazing_ aroma was the opposite of disgusting. I could spend hours in here, just letting myself indulge. How was it even possible for it to be so heavenly? Nothing ever smelled that good. But when I thought about it, my caffeine addiction must’ve exaggerated how satisfying it really was. I didn’t have an actual addiction to the substance, but caffeine really kept me going. The day just wouldn’t feel right without it.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I unlocked it and checked the messages.

M.A: The line was too long when we got outside, sorry. We couldn’t see where you were, and some of Armin’s friends were waiting for him to go with them to hang out. I have an assignment to work on today, so I had to go home on my own. Text me back when you’re on the way back.

E.J: gotcha

I checked the time on the status bar, and it was surprisingly late. I was already here for 20 minutes, but it only felt like two. Was the service slow, or the was the line that long? It didn’t seem nearly as bad as yesterday, but who knew how many bodies fit inside? There were a lot, now that I thought about it. I turned around to look outside the window, and _damn_ it was _worse_ than the day before. The line extended three stores down from the café and the crowd was more dense today. There was a large variety in the types of people who came here, from families to business men, but mostly students. Word must’ve spread quickly in Sina, but the fact that it was across the street from the school had to be a contributing factor.

There were much less customers before me, and I’d finally be able to order soon. I was getting a bit bored in line alone. I wanted to text Armin, but I didn’t want to bother him when he was with others. I tuned into the conversations around me, starting with the group of three teenage girls behind me.  They looked vaguely familiar, and a few years younger than I was. Probably about 15 or 16, sophomores from what I could tell from their uniforms. I tried to make it as un-obvious as possible that I was paying them any attention, but I could see two red stripes on the collar of their shirts when I pretended to look around the store.

“I heard the barista is _sooo_ hot!” one of them said.

“Yeah, he’s got these really nice eyes or something!” said another.

The last girl let out a squeal. “Ugh, I know right? Everybody is trying to get a piece of him.”

Oh come the fuck on, was that really why there was so much attention coming from students? There _were_ a lot of girls in line, but at least 40% of the customers were male, and it was really unlikely that they all swung that way. Judging by the scent that I still couldn’t get over, the actual drinks that they sold must have been good too. There was no way the entire crowd was generated by some coffee-making eye candy.

The last few patrons thanked the cashier for their service and moved out of line, either into a seat or outside. There weren’t many places left to stay inside, save for a barstool by the counter and a two-seater by the entrance to the restroom. It was finally my turn to order, but I was at a loss for words when I saw the man who would be serving me. He wasn’t fundamentally attractive, with his short stature and annoyed expression. He wore a light grey dress shirt with a dark blue vest overtop that. There was a small metal pin on the right of his uniform, displaying his position and name. I didn’t bother to read it. It hugged his frame very nicely. He had his arms crossed over his chest, the sleeves of his top rolled up just past his elbows. His skin was pale, almost like porcelain.  He had well-toned muscles, which I didn’t expect from somebody working at a coffee shop. His apron matched his vest,  and went a few inches past his knees. It was probably meant for taller people. My eyes trailed up his body to his face, and hell, he really did have gorgeous eyes. I felt like the steely grey orbs were peering into my soul. His hair framed his features so perfectly.

“Oi brat, most people tell me what they want before they stare. Give me your order, you’re holding up the line.”

Jesus, take the wheel.

I didn’t even bother to look at the menu, let alone think about what I was going to have. I hadn’t taken my wallet out or anything, I may not even have had enough money. Shit shit _shit_. That smooth, deep voice did not make matters any better. Get yourself together Eren, calm your hormones. This is not the time for those kind of thoughts.

“I’ll, um,  have the er...I’d like the...Uh, item the of the day please.” That did not go well.

The man cocked an eyebrow at me. “Vanilla latte? Really? I’ve made too many of those today.”

“Um, I’ll take that if it’s not trouble. Regular please.”

“$2.95”

I let out a sigh of relief. The prices weren’t insanely high, and I wouldn’t have to make a fool of myself for not having enough change. Yet there I found myself handing over a five dollar bill and telling him to keep the change. He gave me yet another questioning look, but didn’t protest. I moved over to make room for the next person to come up and waited for the drink to be completely. A few short minutes after, a strawberry-blonde lady passed me the latte in  a very simple white tea cup.

“Here you go sir, have a good day!”

“T-thank you.” I stammered, taking the seat at the counter. About to sip the drink, I noticed the design in the cup. It was a highly stylized wing insignia made with the milk, one that I felt like I saw before. I lowered the drink to think about it for a second until I remembered. It was a lot like the school crest back in Shigansina, but had some sort of twist on it. It gave off more of that military yet elegant look to it. How did they do it so quickly? Maybe they had practice after doing it so often.

Suddenly, the soft jazz music got much louder as the song switched to something much more upbeat. The crowd began quiet down as everybody turned their attention to the short barista, who was fixing the knot on his apron. He picked up a bottle of milk, the kind you saw milkmen deliver, even though I’ve never seen anybody actually use them. He tossed it up into the air, a glass container of coffee beans and a can whip cream following it. He juggled the three items for a few seconds before catching the milk and cream on one arm and tossing the coffee to one of his his co workers behind him. He got out more ingredients, and did various tricks with them, arranging them nicely in front of him. Even with all the extra steps he took for the sake of performance, he was expertly creating the drink with the help of the other baristas. The crowd cheered him on and showed their support with each swift movement. After it finished blending, he somehow pulled out six small glasses that he threw up, bumped off his elbow and did different moves with (all perfectly timed with the music) before catching them all on a metal plate. Landing with a soft ‘clang’, the glasses formed a circle right in the center of a the plate. The audience gave their final applaud and the drinks were given to the next customers in line.

My jaw dropped long ago, but it shocked me even more when I was given the last glass. I didn’t even know that coffee shops did flair, but he made it look so natural with his  completely flawless act. I settled that this was the real reason there was so much business for a new store. He muttered something when the cold drink slid in front of me.

“For the extra cash. We appreciate it.”

I silently took it, still in awe. I still wasn’t half way through the latte, distracted by the barista. I gulped the rest of it down while looking at the drink he made during the flair performance. It was some kind of iced cappuccino, which, to my knowledge, was not a particularly common beverage. I texted Mikasa, letting her know that I’d be heading home soon. I sipped the cold drink, whose both temperature and flavour contrasted the latte. It was very sweet, and slightly overwhelming. It was good, just not my thing.

Getting up from my seat, I walked over to hand back the dishes before leaving. The short man appeared to be taking a break from making drinks and serving customers, instead mopping up some of the water from melted ice cubes. I opened my mouth to say something to him, some sort of cliche compliment on his skills. Before I know it, I fell on the wet floor, the glasses slipping out of my hand. They crashed down, shattering as they made contact with the ground. I pushed myself up and the first thing I see is him, glaring daggers into me.

Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how do you write flair what  
> i'm really bad at this  
> i'm sorry about this chapter
> 
> levi pov either in the next chapter or the one after that


	4. Composure?  What composure?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi discusses how Eren will pay back for the damaged property. Eren thinks about old memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna warn you now, this chapter is a bit shorter and 50% dialogue and 50% Eren thinking. Italics are his actual inner thoughts. That sounds weird.
> 
> Unbeta'd and unedited for now.
> 
> Find me at pengoop.tumblr.com  
> I now track the tag snk fic: morning coffee on tumblr!

The man was obviously pissed, but he still offered a hand to help pull me up off the ground. His skin was very smooth in comparison to mine, which was rough and calloused all the different activities that I did. He must’ve taken really good care of it. I brushed myself off quickly before meeting his gaze again. When I did, his eyes looked even colder than I remembered them being. I couldn’t find the right words to say to make my apology sound genuine and not just an empty ‘sorry’. I felt like an idiot for the second time in my first visit. First, I nearly popped a boner over some short hot guy who was making me coffee, and now I broke his shiny new cups and glasses. _Good job Eren. You’re definitely charming him now. He wants you._

“I, uh, I’m really sorry about that, the breaking thing, um,  like, crap I was just, er,” I stammered. “I just didn’t see you like, all that water and everything, didn’t really think-”

“I’d really love to say that it’s fine and to not worry about it, but both of those came in literally 2 days ago. It hasn’t even been a _week_ since I opened this  place and you’re already damaging my property.”

“Shit, fuck, I, I’m really sorry, I swear I really am. I can make it up to you! I-I’ll pay you back, I’ll do something! Whatever you want from me! Anything!”

He chuckled. “Okay, kid, calm down a bit. You should really more careful about saying you’d give people anything. One day you’ll run into some creep or criminal that’ll take you too seriously.”

“No! Oh God, no! I did not just offer to let them beat the shit out of me or suck them off.” Was I _blushing_? “I could always take it back, and then it wouldn’t be consensual anymore.”

“You really think _they_ would care about consent?” And now he was smirking. It kept getting harder and harder to maintain my composure.

“Ugh, just tell me what you want from me.”

“Work here and pay it off. They were unique to The Wall, but it really shouldn’t take you more than a day.” He shrugged and put his mop down to the side, taking hold of a broom in its place.

“But, I-”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Alright, when should I come in?”

“Tomorrow. You caused enough trouble today.” I sighed and nodded in response, carefully making my way out of the café. It wasn’t bad, come to think of it. I wouldn’t have to ask my parents or Mikasa for money. I didn’t even have to look for a way to earn my cash at all. They couldn’t have cost more than 15 bucks, because who would spend that much on cups in general? Hell, you could find similar things at the dollar store. Probably less than a dollar even, ‘cause he probably had to buy in bulk. Whatever, I was planning on going tomorrow anyway. I liked the taste of the drinks, and there was a pleasant atmosphere.

I waited at the stop for a good fifteen minutes before the bus arrived. I flashed my student pass and took one of the empty seats. I stared blankly at the floor and thought about the day so far. School had been uneventful, except for learning some names and meeting more people. The coffee shop commotion had me interested in the moment, but looking back, it wasn’t anything special. To sum it up, I was awkward and clumsy. I was attending a new school in a new city with new people. You couldn’t blame me for being slightly out of place.

I thought about that guy again. He had something about him, I couldn’t tell what, that made me particularly interested. I could almost say that I felt drawn to him, and that I wanted to learn more about who he was. Was was up with the whole wall thing? What were those little creatures supposed to be? Was he some famous café owner that I should’ve known about, but didn’t? I guess I could try asking him  about some of the things I was wondering about, but I had a feeling that he wouldn’t open up much. Maybe that was that ‘something’ that he possessed. Even when he was clearly bothered by something, he stayed so calm. If it wasn’t for the teasing that got me riled up, my initial panic would’ve died down. He was so...casual.

 _Wow Eren, fuck. You don’t even like this guy, you don’t even know him. And yet you’re thinking about him on the bus all lovingly. You sound like the main character of a really bad chick-flick._ I sighed and pressed the stop button, holding onto a pole as I stood up on the moving vehicle. My thoughts shifted to the topic of school work, which I really, really didn’t want to have to do. It’s like none of the teachers gave out diagnostic assignments that weren’t complete shit. Mr. Smith had assigned us an essay on the most generic, overdone, boring, fourth-grade level topic. Uniforms? Honestly? It was so easy that even I could ace it, except for the fact that I’ve written about the topic so many times that I don’t even give any damns about it anymore. In fact, I’d just edit one of the ones I’ve written before and hand that in. As if Mr. Smith would be able to tell the difference. If it isn’t up to his standards, then that’s good. He would be prepared for the rest of my horrible English.

I was welcomed by a cool breeze when I stepped off the bus. I pulled my sweater to me closer, though it didn’t make a difference. I started thinking about my past again. Everything about my childhood was so peaceful. That’s not to say that it was boring, because there were so many good memories that still made me crack a smile whenever I thought about them. My favourite was when my dad told me that mom didn’t speak German and we’d purposely talk about her right under her nose. Nothing rude, I’d never say those things about her, but it really was quite fun. I was so confused when my mom joined our conversation. It was such a simple thing, but it warmed my heart. My dad and I were a lot closer back then. As he grew more distant from the family, I stopped speaking German asm much. Even though most of the the neighbourhood spoke it, English was preferred. My dad sort of ‘came back’ for a little while when Mikasa started living with us, but it was short lived. I missed it sometimes, but I mostly gotten used to him not being around.

I rang the doorbell and only had to wait a few short seconds for her to open the door. I should’ve gotten out my house key, but I didn’t want to fumble around and dig it out of my bag in the chilly weather. She stepped out of the doorway to let me in, and I kicked off my shoes on the mat. I signalled to my mom that I was home safely with a polite wave. I dropped my bag down by the stairs; I’d worry about homework after I brought it upstairs. Right now, I just wanted to lay back on the couch and relax. But of course, Mikasa had something to talk to me about.

“Eren?” She called out, sitting back down in front of her homework on the dinner table.

I got up into a kneeling position on the couch and turned around in her direction. “Hm? What is it?”

“It took you longer to get home than it usually should, did something happen?”

“Oh no, I just had to speak with one of the employees.”

She seemed a bit more concerned now. “What did you do?”

“Nothing! It was just a little mishap.”

I could tell that she wasn’t about to let me go unless I told her the whole story. I honestly didn’t find it all that important, it really was just a small thing that occurred. I knew Mikasa though, she had to know that I was safe at all times. As long as she was around, nobody could lay a finger on me. I told her about the situation in as brief points as I could put them in, wanting to get back to resting as soon as possible. I omitted the part about me checking the barista out at the counter. Nobody really knew that I found guys attractive yet. I wasn’t sure about it myself. She was okay with it all until I mentioned that the he wanted me to work to make it up to him for the broken items.

“He can’t force you to you do that. It’s child labour.”

“It’s fine Mikasa, I’m old enough to get a job in service anyway.”

“Did you tell him you were willing? Do you even know what kind of work he’s making you do?”

“Well, no..But that’s not the point! I already said I would do it, and it’s not a big deal.”

“Eren.”

I gave her a reassuring smile. “I can handle it, it’s really nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“Fine,” she sighed. “But if if anything goes wrong, you know that I can break his neck for you.”

I laughed and lay back down on the couch again. I had a short nap, waking about 45 minutes before my dad was back from work, right on time for dinner. We discussed the usual things; world events, work, school, and the like. I made my way upstairs into the bathroom to get myself washed up before I started my schoolwork. It woke me up quite a lot, and I felt nice and refreshed. Of course, seeing the fucking _uniform essay_ outline sapped all of the motivation out of me again.

I searched through my different folders, looking for the document from other school years to use as my essay for Mr. Smith. It was times like this that I wished that I didn’t name my homework stupid things like ‘asiesoekxoem.ppt’ and ‘eat monkey shit teach.doc’. Armin even kept all his work organized into this amazing folder system. It took me a whole 15 minutes to find it. I read it over again, changing a few sentences to sound better and more senior quality. I retyped the header so the names and course codes fit with my new class. I printed it off and quickly did my Chemistry worksheet, skimming through the questions and circling the letters that seemed to fit in well enough. The teacher wasn’t collecting it, so I didn’t need to bother. I could always just correct it in class, thinking too hard would prove to be a waste of time.

I stretched and yawned loudly for dramatic effect, though nobody else was in the room to acknowledge it. I closed the lid of my laptop and put all my papers back into my bag. I changed into my pyjamas, which were getting a bit small and extremely childish for me. Why did 14 year old me think it was a good idea to get keyboard cat on my sleep wear? At least it couldn’t really embarrass me. The only people who’d see them were my other family members. They’ve seen everything already.

I climbed into bed and starting to stare out the window. The stars were still shining brightly, though I would’ve expected there to be way more light pollution in a big city like Sina. Somehow, thoughts of the short little coffee guy made their way into my mind as I drifted to sleep. I didn’t even have his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this chapter honestly. It's kind of filler.
> 
> Levi POV in next chapter.


	5. Levi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was just another day in The Wall, until a teacher and a brat came in.
> 
> Levi's POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh I need to practice more with writing Levi. I'm pretty excited about this chapter, to be honest. I'm so sorry this took longer. I'm planning to do Friday or Saturday weekly updates now, since it gives me more time to write and be edited, so it's better quality. I ran a little late with this anyway :c I won't let it happen again. 
> 
> Warning: Mandatory title drop.
> 
> Thank you to all people who've left kudos, comments, and bookmarked the fic! You all make my heart swell.
> 
> Find me at pengoop.tumblr.com  
> Beta read by Chloe, find her at sail-to-mithlond.tumblr.com  
> Edited by my dumb sis who's kind of cool sometimes
> 
> EDIT 04/09/2014: I'm so embarrassed, augh! I didn't even notice this when reading my chapter that I said Erwin and Levi lived together when Levi woke up in his apartment alone and said that they didn't see each other much. ono I had been planning for them to share one but not yet! I edited the sentence, my apologies for the lack of continuity.
> 
> I track the tag "snk fic: morning coffee" without the quotations on tumblr!
> 
> Without any further ado...

A soft piano song started playing, gently pulling me out of my sleep. Today was a better morning than most, I could already tell. I had my first proper night of sleep since I opened the new café in Stohess. It has been insanely busy from day one, and I couldn’t get any proper rest the entire time. My ears were always ringing by the end of the day from all the noise of loud teenagers, bitching moms and the most entitled men you could imagine. The businessmen type customers were the absolute worst. They demanded perfection in a cup in less than 2 minutes and then threatened to take their money back. Tch.

I stayed in bed until I was fully conscious and allowed the music to continue playing. It was relaxing. Glancing at the clock, it still felt too early to be awake, even with the full night’s rest and pleasant awakening. 5:30 AM. I didn’t have to do too much in the morning before going to work, as I prepared most of it the night before. Clothing laid out, deodorant and cologne in the nightstand, shoes lined up against the wall, keys and wallet by the door. There was a precise routine I always followed in the morning. It made things infinitely simpler, quicker, and overall much more efficient.

I tossed my sleep wear into the laundry hamper sitting outside the the bathroom door and flipped the switch to turn on the fan before walking into the shower. The water hit my skin after I turned the knob and I winced; it was still cold. Thankfully, it heated up quickly, steam rising and filling the rest of the room. The water was now scorchingly warm, but that’s how I liked it to be. I lathered soap onto my body and scrubbed myself down until I felt clean enough. I grabbed a bottle of shampoo and poured some onto my hand. I ran my fingers through my hair and let out a sigh.

After I finished with my shower, I stepped out and wrapped a towel around my waist. I stood in front of the mirror  and blow-dried my hair. It fell into place itself once dry without having to put in much effort. I brushed my teeth and exited the soon after. I tossed the towel into another basket beside the one with my clothing in it and put on my outfit for the day. Most of my work clothes looked the same, and it became rather boring. I wasn’t any fashion oriented person, but they were overly plain and simple. Today; a black dress shirt and matching slacks. When I thought about it, there was a slightly different colour for each day of the week. Monday was dark gray, Tuesday was white, and Wednesdays we did not wear pink. You got the idea. Just neutral dress shirts and pants in a similar colour. Nearly everyday. Each article of clothing permanently smelled of coffee no matter how many times I washed it. The scent would just cling onto it again later in the week even if I could somehow get it out.

Though the smell of coffee wasn’t exactly _bad_ , I still preferred cologne to it. I sprayed some on after applying deodorant to my underarms and made the bed before leaving the room. I removed my phone from the dock before closing the door behind me and continued to play the same song from before. I placed it down on the counter and made a bagel for myself. On most days, I ate whatever was at the shop, but I was a bit early anyways. I took a few minutes to finish eating it before getting up and heading to the door. It was getting colder outside, so I decided to pull on a navy blue scarf and dark green military-esque coat.  I slipped into a pair of black loafers before taking all my essentials. Wallet in the back pocket, keys in the front, phone in the other side.

I walked to work everyday. It was only ten minutes away from my complex, so there was no point in driving. Why the fuck did I even have a car? I nearly never needed to go anywhere out of walking distance, and when I did, it was into the busiest parts of the city, when taking the train would be a better option. At the very least, it was nice to know it was there. I stuffed my hands into the pockets of the coat, trying to get to the café as soon as I could. The weather was getting colder, and the sun hasn’t been out long enough to warm the air.

I clocked in by swiping a card by the back doors. My uniform was waiting for me on the table, folded up neatly. I tied the apron around my waist and buttoned up the vest. I flicked on the lights as I exited the employees room  and turned the ‘Open’ sign on. As usual, I was the first one at work, just 20 minutes before opening. The others would trickle in at the ten minute mark. The shop officially opened at 6:30, but there were few people that came in during morning hours. More of them should’ve, really. Everything was 25% off from 6:30 to 8 and it would’ve gave me a fucking purpose for being here. The one perk about having less business at this time was the lack of noise and not needing to be fully staffed. It was a lot less hectic than other times.

The bell at the door chimed and I looked up to see who came in. Tall man, blonde hair carefully combed to the side, warm smile, blue eyes. None other than Erwin Smith. I sighed and made my way out to the seating area to greet him.

“The usual morning coffee?” I asked simply, though I already knew the answer to that question. He responded with a nod and took a seat at one of the barstools. I went back behind the counter to prepare his drink, reluctantly getting off the table. I glanced back at where I was sitting and vowed to never do that again. I didn’t need asses rubbing on the surface when there were much comfier chairs around. Erwin liked his coffee black, nice and strong to kick start his day. I didn’t need to think about what I was doing, it became habit as did many things in my life. I preferred things to follow routine. When life was orderly and organized, there was little to throw you off track. Erwin didn’t come in every day, but he did often enough, regardless of which café I was working in.

It was too quiet. I forgot to turn the music on and the silence made me uncomfortable. I inserted my phone into a slot on the dock, which was hooked up to the rest of the sound system. Some British rock music started playing, which relieved the tension in the air. It had an 80s vibe to it, but I couldn’t remember what the band or song was called. There was too much music on my phone to keep track of it all, except for my favourites. I just downloaded whatever sounded good enough.

I placed the hot cup of coffee in front of Erwin and leaned on the counter, though I could barely reach. “How’s the school? Should I buy you bulk painkillers?”

He chuckled. “It’s not too bad. One kid called me Captain America.”

“Oh?” I cocked an eyebrow at him.

Erwin nodded with a smile and got up, picking up the papers he brought in with him. “Well, I’ll have to go. The principal called a meeting this morning.”

“Oi, where do you think you’re going with that mug?”

“I’ll bring it back after I’m done working.”

“No, I need that. You’ve seen how many people come in. And they’re all impatient little shits.” I grabbed the cup and poured the drink into a paper one before handing it back. “Could’ve told me earlier.”

Erwin smiled once more before leaving. Then he was out the door and I was alone in the shop again. The others should’ve been here by now, it was 15 minutes to opening. I took the money Erwin left and put it into the cash register. I insisted that drinks were on me for the first week of school, but he always paid. He didn’t know, but I was secretly grateful. The Wall was doing great, even better than I anticipated, but every dollar counted in the end.

There were three of us who all started fresh in the city. There was a fourth member of our group, but Mike was already working here. He helped us settle and showed us around in the beginning. Erwin, Hanji and I were working to build our careers here, hopefully with better success this time. The café looked very promising. Things weren’t _horrible_ before, but it wasn’t _great_ either.

A faint beep sounded and I was soon accompanied by one of other baristas. Petra, a sweet girl with short strawberry blonde hair, was part of my new team. So far, they’ve proven to be reliable and capable. She greeted me in a very chipper tone, as usual. Her aura was uplifting. The others made it in the 5 minutes before we were officially opened for the day, later than they usually came in. They were technically still on time, so I didn’t bother asking about it. It was probably just traffic.

The day went on like any other. A lot of patrons, some shitty, some decent, all contributing to the development of my afternoon ache. Some of the faces repeatedly showed up, though it was still too early to call them regulars. There was the chance they were only coming during this time of the year. I didn’t really get to know the customers anyway, I couldn’t see a point in doing so. Though I remember Hanji said it could help with tips, so I considered it.

 

* * *

 

Afternoon hit, which was easily my least favourite part of the day. The huge hordes of high school students flooded in the minute the clock read 3:15. The brats rushed into here as soon as they could to avoid waiting in line. Was it really that big of a deal? I couldn’t complain. It meant people liked The Wall. It meant business. It meant money. It meant success. I felt a bit shallow for that, but there was no denial money was a good thing to have.

Then I noticed the familiar bright blue eyes in the crowd - Or were they green? His expression made him look like a fucking child, with his big doe eyes and look on his face. Though, his other features made it apparent that he couldn’t be younger than 15 or 16, probably a young adult soon. The kid skipped waiting in line and squeezed his way through to the counter. I almost forgot that he owed me for the broken cups, even with the spare things I laid out for him in the employees room. I grunted and made my way over to meet him.

“Um, s-sir! I’m here to pay my debt for the things I broke.” He stammered, sounding just as nervous as he was yesterday.

“Go to the back, take an employee card; clock in on the machine; get a uniform in your size; grab a broom, mop, and rag; and get cleaning. I’ll get somebody to help you.” I pushed the flap door open and waited for him to get in before I went back to work. I asked Petra to help with the new guy, who happily obliged. She looked even a little excited to be able to train somebody. I hadn’t hired anybody since I trained the group of them at the beginning.

I served a few customers before I realized that it was taking the two of them a lot longer than it should have for them to come back out. Service was slowing down, not by a lot, but surely slowing down. Did the brat stir trouble _again_? I threw a towel down on the counter and entered the employees room.

“How fucking long d-” Tall, blonde and handsome was in the shop again. He flashed me his signature smiled for the who-even-knows-what time today, tying the apron on. Why was he here again? We usually didn’t see each other besides in the morning and on weekends.

“Thought I’d help you out here again, since I made you waste your precious time washing extra dishes.” Erwin replied, as if he read my mind. I rolled my eyes.

“Mister Smith! You know each other?” The kid alternated from staring at me to staring at Erwin with wide eyes.

Erwin came to my side calmly and planted a chaste kiss on my forehead, which lead me to hide my face in shame. Petra giggled. We weren’t even dating anymore, yet our friendship was still so flirtatious. I knew he wasn’t seriously interested anymore, but it could be awkward.  “Of course we know each other Eren. We'll be living together.”

The brat look absolutely mortified now. “Levi, he’s the one who called me Captain America.” He said with a laugh, and then he left the room to go help with the customers. We didn’t have enough people outside to keep everything running smoothly.

“Sir!” The boy called after him, looking very embarrassed. A pink tint was visible on his cheeks and his hair was more ruffled up than before, if that was possible. Petra was still giggling on the side. I smirked and went back outside.

“Get to work, you two.”

The space felt smaller with the additional bodies, but the extra staffing made the service go noticeably smoother and faster. Erwin had worked with me in a café during our high school years and still maintained his skills. Eren cleaned up whatever needed to be cleaned, which cut down a lot more time than I thought it would. His work wasn’t perfect, but I was impressed. The kid knew what he was doing. Of course, it wasn’t too hard for the average person. I was just picky, and I knew that. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m a clean freak or germaphobe, but Hanji insists I am.

 

* * *

 

Business began to slow down around 5, until the most of the crowd disappeared. The shop was still mostly filled, but at a more comfortable number of people. It was one of the times I liked best. The place was calmer, but very alive nonetheless. Sitting down in an empty table beside the window, I let out a breath. The sun began to set, slowly but surely. I stared outside for awhile before turning my attention back to my staff. Most were also relaxing, finishing up a few jobs. Erwin was taking off the uniform, preparing to clock out for the day. The only one who was continuing to work as hard was the new kid.

“Oi, brat. You can leave now. You’ve paid your debt already, go home and do whatever teens do these days.”

He nodded in acknowledgement and went into the employees room to put away his things. I pushed myself up and followed him. “Good work today, kid. You can come again if you’re up for it.”

He smiled.

“I’ll think about it.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading! I'll start updating on either Friday or Saturday. 
> 
> Levi POV is probably coming in every 5 chapters, but it might be random, I haven't decided. It's still primarily written in Eren's. 
> 
> P.S I had some bands in mind for the music that was playing, but it was more just inspiration. It can be whatever you interpret it to be! Leave me a comment on who you saw it as :D


	6. Don't Call Me a Janitor (Even If I Am One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren decides that having a job wouldn't be a bad idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aghh, I'm sorry this chapter a little late! I wanted to upload it yesterday but a had a bit more to write, and I was working on some art to accompany the fic! You'll probably be seeing it soon. Not to mention, that FIVE of the fics I've been following and quite like updated at that time period...I got distracted and couldn't finish writing it. :c
> 
> I tried to not include my personal music interests in the fic, but I saw some other authors do it, and it was such a good idea. So, when you see the (x) symbol, click it to play the song!
> 
> Find me at pengoop.tumblr.com  
> Beta read by sail-to-mithlond.tumblr.com (Currently unbeta'd)  
> Edited by my sister, though it hasn't been thoroughly edited yet.

Working at the café went a lot better than than I expected. It was almost _fun_. I was let out around 5 after roughly two hours of work. Even though I didn’t arrive at home with money in my pocket, I felt pretty happy with myself. I knew it was stupid to feel proud of cleaning some dishes and crap, but that didn’t change that I did. I walked towards our house with this new found pep in my step ( _God, that sounds stupid_ ) and a small smile on my face. I had put my house key in the pocket of my sweater earlier, so I didn’t have to bother anybody ringing the bell.

As I started the turn the key, I could make out the sound of footsteps making their way to the front door. I was bombarded by questions from Mikasa as soon as I swung it open, just like yesterday. _Sigh_ , living with her was really something. I almost laughed at how worried she seemed.

“Oh, thank God you’re home! What did he make you do? Are you okay? Did he do anything to you? Are you cold? Do you need new winter clothes?”

I walked past her and patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, everything was fine. You make it sound like I was sold into slavery. And it’s still September.”

She sighed. “Don’t joke about those things, Eren.” I could tell she trusted my words, but the topic wasn’t dropped just yet. “Tell me everything.”

The coffee maker was running and I took a seat at the kitchen table to wait for it to finish. I stretched out my muscles, pulling my arms above my head. I let out a yawn and began to tell Mikasa about The Wall. “It’s pretty nice, kinda crowded, but it’s not that bad. The guy who told me to work there is the only one who’s really grumpy.” I shrugged. That’s when I realized I still didn’t know his name. I swear somebody mentioned it, but my brain refused to recall that piece of information.

Mikasa sat down in the seat in front of me and waited for me to continue. “There’s a nice woman who helped me around, the others were welcoming enough. Really, that guy’s the only bitter one, but he’s not that bad! Honestly.” She looked like she wanted to say something, but she only nodded. “Oh and, oh _God_...Mister Smith, the fucking _English teacher_ , knew him. He was working there too.” I buried my face in my hands. Mikasa giggled softly.

I got up to get myself a coffee, which was stupid actually. I really should’ve gotten one at the shop before heading home, yet I didn’t. _Eren, you are the brightest kid ever_. Mikasa seemed satisfied with what I told her before I got up, and she was already gone when I returned from the kitchen. Must’ve went off to do homework. I pulled out my phone to check the time, and it was later than I thought. In a few minutes, it’d already be 6, and I didn’t start doing any work. I was still tired from school and cleaning, and homework was the last thing on my mind. At least it wasn’t as groan-worthy as the essay from last night.

Neither of our parents seemed to be home yet. I tried really hard to procrastinate until dinner, but there was nothing to do around the house. I messed around on my phone and flipped through TV channels, but nothing caught my interest. Homework was my only option.

 

* * *

The worksheet didn’t take long, dinner was good and sleep came quickly. I found myself sitting in fourth period, irrationally excited yet again. We were given the last 10 minutes of class to chat after the lesson finished, but I couldn’t focus. My stupid brain kept linking everything people said to the café and the guy I couldn’t remember the name of. I did a lot of thinking last night, and now the thoughts wouldn’t leave my head. I decided I’d work there more to scrape up some money and get experience. Most people didn’t want to hire loud teenagers that had no idea what they were doing. I suppose there were some other factors, but nope, I, Eren Jaeger, did not want to work there just to get to know a short male barista. There were more important things to worry about. I’m still trying to make friends and get decent grades, I did not need to be worked up by that guy.

A particularly loud laugh from the equine king pulled me back into the conversation. I had no idea what he was going on about.

“Come on Marco, you really want to work beside those fat pigs? Trying to ‘make a difference’ and all that shit? Look, you got a good heart, but I know you’re only in it for the pay.”

_Alright, something about jobs._

Marco pouted and tried to protest. “No, I really do want to be in the government! I want to do something for the people, and it’d be such an honour to work with the Pr-”

“Just admit it, nobody who really wants to change the world for the better has any political power.”

The two of them continued their bickering while the rest of us stayed silent, watching them with small smiles. I listened in for a few minutes before putting in my two cents.

“Y’know, Kirstein, not everybody is a heartless, useless husk like you. Marco could probably do whatever he wanted to with a personality like his.”

He laughed, though it sounded more like a neigh to me. “Ha! Jaeger, do you even know what you’re gonna do after high school? Bum around at home with mama? Flip burgers for a living?”

I was left dumbfounded. I blinked a couple times before my expression became a lot more aggressive. “You listen here horse face-”

“Calm down Jaeger, your hair’s getting more ruffled up than it already is.”

I opened my mouth to say something to him, but the bell rang as if on cue. My anger faded and I grabbed my bag, dashing out of class. Shit, I didn’t tell anybody I was going the the coffee shop again, but I could text them about it when I got there. I had a job to do. I caught a few of them muttering as I made my way outside.

“What got up his ass?” Jean.

“Eren…” Armin.

[(x)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d32VfZ5Pf0w)

I hurriedly opened my locker to drop off some school books I wouldn’t need and pulled on my coat hastily. I wouldn’t need it, as I would be surrounded by the warmth of the shop soon enough. I raced outside, bag bouncing against my back, keys rattling in the front pocket. I really needed to get it together. There was nothing amazing about being a janitor at a café, yet I was still so pumped. I didn’t even keep my own room clean - I had no idea why I was cleaning up after others. Janitor sounded horrible too. Not cool at all.

“What’re you so happy about?” The barista asked. I didn’t realize I had a huge grin on my face until he mentioned it, and I felt my cheeks warm up.

“I apologize for wanting to scrub shit off of your toilets.” _Phew_ , I was able to think up something slightly witty.

His lips twitched ever so lightly, and I swear I could see his eyes glint in amusement. “Follow me, kid.”

“Yes sir!” He led me to the back room, which I already visited yesterday. He flicked on the lights and chucked a few things at me. I caught them all, though I fumbled with the last item. I recognized each one, since I was given the same things before. The only differences was that the uniform was closer to my size now, and the back of the card was blank.

I followed him to the back doors and watched him press a few buttons on a small device mounted on the wall. It resembled a thermostat, but I doubted he was adjusting the temperature of anything. He stepped aside and turned to me. “Enter your name, just go through whatever the damn thing says. It’s registering you as an employee to track your hours.”

I nodded and followed the directions on the screen. There wasn’t a whole lot to do; just my name, a shitty photo of me, and the basics of what you’d find on a job application form. The machine printed out a receipt-like slip of paper and prompted me to insert the card. When I removed it, my name and photo was on the back side. The other man took the paper and began scanning it.

“Jaeger, huh? German?” He looked up at me. I nodded. “A lot of you around here.”

He sighed and we made our way out. “I’ll pay you $10.50 an hour and just work whenever you can - but I expect you to be here for at least two weekdays for a minimum of two hours. Five on a weekend. Do the same thing you did before and I might give you a raise or something if you do well. Ask Petra if you need anything. I'll explain things properly when people aren't killing each other for coffee."

I grabbed whatever I thought looked useful and looked around for things that could use some attention. The counters and floors were mostly clean, aside from the relatively small amount of dirt customers were trailing in. I wouldn't be able to sweep it up until the store cleared out later. Some of the tables were dirty, so I set myself to clean them off. It wasn’t hard work; just a bit of rubbing out coffee stains and throwing out leftover trash. I did that for the most of the time I spent at the coffee shop, but I had to mop the restroom floors eventually. It was pretty gross from all the use, but less than you’d expect it to be. I didn’t dig the music, but it set a relaxing tone and went nicely with the chatter of the crowd. The songs weren’t bad, but not my cup of tea. I liked louder, more upbeat music. I guess that’s pretty typical of a teen, but it reflected my personality.

The café began emptying out at the same time as yesterday, and I took a glance at the clock to see if I should get home. Yet. I began to text Mikasa to tell her I’d be heading back, until I remember I didn’t tell her where I was at all. _Crap! She’s gonna kill me!_ I sent her a short message and made quick work of putting everything away and taking off my uniform. I swiped my card on the machine as I was instructed and head out the back door. I wanted to bid farewell to my co-workers and order a coffee before leaving, but the sooner I was home the better. The weather had become a lot nicer since I was last outside. I pulled the sleeves of my coat off my arms and tied it around my waist. I had to walk past the front of the shop to get to my bus stop and the sweet scent of coffee filled my nostrils again.

That’s when I bumped right into my...manager? I guess that’s what he was. Hot coffee was spilled onto my arms and some of it onto his hands. Luckily, it was just a small splash and the drink had some time to cool down.

“Watch where you’re going, brat.” He was glaring up at me, and I swear, if looks could kill, I’d be brutally murdered. The shortie was absolutely terrifying.  “You looked like you were in a rush, so I started making you a coffee. Good work.” He thrusted the cup into my hand before turning on his heels.

Even if he said that in the coldest tone possible, it made my heart swell. Any compliment from a grinch like him meant a hell lot to me. He always looked so unimpressed.

I stood in place for a few moments, just staring at him in awe. It really wasn’t much of a kind gesture, but it still felt like one. “W-Wait!” I stuttered. “What’s your name?” Wow, I didn’t even thank him. And of all things I could’ve said, it was that. Fuck, Jaeger.

He turned his head back momentarily to give me a look before continuing to walk back to the shop. Both of us were silent for awhile before he muttered something to me when he got to the door. “It’s Levi.”

 **  
** _Levi_. The man’s name was Levi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the chapter was filler-ish. :c I needed more interaction between some of the characters to set the tone. 
> 
> The next few chapters will have some more highschool life stuff in it, but coffee as well.


	7. Half My Teachers Are My Boss' Best Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren goes into The Wall for his weekend shift and runs into more familiar faces from school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW I'M A SHIT I'M SORRY. I ended up not finishing this chapter for Friday either. I may have got sidetracked by drawing [Titan Eren](http://pengoop.tumblr.com/post/94950033197/oops-i-drew-a-thing-i-used-a-shit-load-of-refs) and reading all the updates to SailorHeichou's [fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2062431). Check it out, it's pretty rad! It's a little longer than the rest, which I'm glad for. I personally my writing has gotten a little better, and I plan on editing previous chapters to feel more...Eren. I might just move to permanent Saturday updates since school is getting closer (can I get a hell yeah?) and I won't have as much time to work on the fic on weekdays.
> 
> Also, wow! The fic is getting a fairly good response, at nearly 1000 hits, over 50 kudos, and 10 bookmarks. Thank you all ;u; (damn its also been a month since i started writing the fic)
> 
> Find me at pengoop.tumblr.com  
> Beta read by Chloe, at sail-to-mithlond.tumblr.com (Currently unbeta'd)  
> Edited by my sis who should really do her homework

It’s only 7:12 AM and I’m already awake, sizzling bacon on a frying pan. Since when did I ever get up anytime before noon unless I had to? My dad left for work a few minutes ago and neither mom nor Mikasa have woken up yet. Mom took a break from her busy week on Saturdays and slept in a little later than usual. Mikasa on the other hand, still woke at a certain time. She didn’t get up as early as on school days, but still set her alarm for 8 o’ clock to do whatever she does. On regular weekends, both of them still beat me to getting up. Days like today were very uncommon.

Somehow, I still felt well rested and refreshed. Must’ve slept really well the night before. Mikasa gave me a big lecture about running off on my own again, but nothing could bring me down on a Friday. The coffee from Levi was perfectly brewed and it  gave me a bit of a much needed energy boost for the evening. I let myself relax instead of fretting over work. I’d have the weekend to worry about filling out all of those emergency contact forms and worksheets about cellular functions. Teachers in Sina was a lot more no-bullshit than back in Shiganshina. Hasn’t even been a full week yet we’re all into full-fledged lessons. I guess that’s a good thing actually, but I can’t work like a robot unlike my two best friends.

I sighed, placing the plate of bacon and scrambled eggs onto the dining table. I ate at a leisurely pace, allowing myself to indulge in the taste of the food. I was no chef, but hell, I could make some mean breakfast food. That doesn’t say much though - it’d be embarrassing if I could mess up simple stuff like that. Whatever, the food was good and that’s what mattered. I planned on working at the café again today. Levi wasn’t too clear about my schedule, but I assumed that I’d have to work on either weekend day. Though it was a professional work environment, it felt more like an odd job.

Mikasa really wasn’t happy about it. She wasn’t mad at me, no, but more upset. I knew she wasn’t going to have a positive reaction or anything, but it was worse than I expected. I couldn’t see why it was that big of a deal. I apologized multiple times, but it didn’t help much. Her overbearing attitude could be irritating at times. Though I blew up about it in the heat of the moment, my anger didn’t last long. I got it under control (kinda). But my sophomore year - now _those_ were some serious Eren anger issues. It was kind of funny how Mikasa got more worked up than our parents or any other friend. Dad wasn’t home to notice little things like this (until my grades slipped), and mom almost let her take the lead when scolding me.

I put the dishes in the sink and head back upstairs to my room. I rinsed out my mouth in the bath and tried to fix my hair a bit before stepping out. I took a pen off my desk, writing a note on a sticky note. I stuck the bright piece of paper onto the fridge for mom and Mikasa before grabbing all my essentials I’d need while I was out. I really wanted to run, but it didn’t sound like a good idea to go to work covered in sweat. I’d smell worse than the school gym’s locker rooms. To try to counter my current scent-related issue, I opened a pack of mint gum and chewed on a piece on the way there. I took the bus today, but biking didn’t seem like a bad option. Should’ve thought of that before I walked a good distance away from home.

The wind decided to fuck up my hair really badly. Whatever I did inside to make it look a little nicer was completely undone. Why did I bother with it? I _really_ needed that hair cut I’d been telling myself to get for the last two weeks. Many times, I’d say to myself _‘get a haircut Eren’_ , or _‘maybe it’d be a good idea to get a trim now’_ , but I never got around to it. So here I was, stuck with my long hair getting in my face all the time. This is the price that I pay for being an irresponsible kid. I should make ‘stop being a dumb shit’ to my New Years’ resolutions, but hell, I’d forget to do that too.

I went through the back door this time, and I have to admit, I felt a little pleased with myself. Swiping my card on the whatever-you-call-it machine made me feel very satisfied and pretty damn cool. God, I’m so lame sometimes. After putting on my uniform, I grabbed the same things from yesterday to get to work and clean up the place. I had no interest in cleaning before, and it puzzled me as to why I’d enjoy working here. Maybe it was the smell of coffee, or the overall pleasant atmosphere. Lord, both were really, _really_  nice and pretty good reasons to be here. It also might be the fact that I was getting paid for it unlike at home, when I just didn't want to get my ass beat by Mikasa or mom. I secretly hoped I wouldn’t be stuck doing this the whole time I worked here, but I really doubted Levi would ever promote me. He probably only hired me to do what he didn’t have time to.

“You look like you got caught in a tornado,” he said, giving me a puzzled look. “Didn’t really expect you to come today.”

I laughed and ran my fingers in my hair, trying to smooth it out. “I was filming Twister earlier. They had realistic effects.”

He snorted in response, which was good enough for me. I set off to clean the restrooms again, since they seemed to be doing alright behind the counters. They were a lot dirtier than yesterday, but to my relief, still not all that gross. I expected it to be pretty bad the day before, considering all bodies inside the shop at that time. They must’ve been too determined to get a cup of coffee to even think of taking a shit or piss. Meh, it meant an easier job for me to do, so I wouldn’t complain about that. After finishing there, I went back outside to the main part of the building. I couldn’t find anything else to do.

I really didn’t want to look like a bad employee, but honestly, the tables were clean, and so were the counters. Anything else wouldn’t be possible with all the people around. I sighed and went to take a seat at one of the empty bar stools. Petra was in again, which was glad for. I haven’t talked to many of my co-workers except her and Levi. I made small talk with the others, but Levi was my boss and she was the one who would provide me help when I needed it.

Petra greeted me with a simple ‘hello’ after taking an order. She began preparing a drink at the space in front of the seats and struck up a conversation with me as she worked. “So how are you liking it here Eren?”

It was a question I expected somebody to ask eventually. “It’s awesome.” I chuckled. “I don’t do much, but I really like the place. I pretty much live on coffee, so working at somewhere that serves some of the best I’ve tasted incredible. The spare cash is cool too. What about you?”

“I haven’t been here much longer than you, but I’ve made friends with the other employees and met some interesting people here.”

I nodded. “What do you think of Levi?” It came out more blunt than I thought it would, but I still had a lot of questions about him. Knowing his name was a first, but there was a lot to know. It felt a lot better to think of him as Levi instead of just ‘the man’, ‘the barista’, or ‘my boss’. It made him feel more like a real person instead of some character in a story. I probably wouldn’t use it when speaking to him yet. ‘Sir’ felt more right.

I couldn’t help but notice how she lit up at the mention of him. It was cute, in a way. “I know he comes off as a rude person, but he’s a great guy, really. Most people just see him for his bad sense of humour and bored look on his face, but everybody has those flaws. It makes him who he is.”

She obviously admired him. The way she talked about him made me smile. Petra finished with the drink and waved to me before serving it and taking the next person’s order. I returned the gesture before turning around in my seat with a sigh. I glanced around the shop again to look for something I could do. There was enough space to start dusting the floor now. Now I wouldn’t have to be a useless guy taking up space. I got a broom leaning against the wall and began sweeping. I hummed softly to the melody of the [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p2-sp0LHng) playing on the speakers. Something about the task was relaxing, in some weird way. The feeling was short lived, interrupted by a familiar loud voice.

“LEVI!” I stumbled back a couple steps at the noise. There she was, my eccentric and overly enthusiastic biology teacher, running up to the counter. The other customers looked at her funny, some muttering things about her manners or complaining about how she cut in line. She either didn’t hear them or was unaffected by their comments.

My boss’ eye twitched. He let out a large breath and rubbed at his temples. “What do you want, shitty glasses? We have customers waiting.” Did all my teachers know Levi or something?

Hanji giggled. “Just wanted to see you, little munchkin!” She reached out a hand to pat his head with more force than necessary. “Is there any harm in that?”

“Tch,” he ducked and moved away from her. “I actually _do_ have a problem with that. You’re getting in the way of our business.”

The brunette spun around, blinking as she made eye contact with some of the people behind her. Her mouth slowly formed an ‘o’ shape, changing into a sheepish grin as she backed away from the line. I desperately tried to turn  away from her, avoiding eye contact. _I do not know her, I do not know her, I do not know her…_ The café’s reputation already got ten times worse when she skipped in, screaming the owner’s name. I did not need to contribute to any further judgments.

Levi gave her one last glare before serving the next customer. “Sorry about that,” he muttered. “We’ll take 5% off your purchase to make up for it.”

Damn, that girl in line was lucky. If there was anything I loved more than caffeine filled goodness, it was _discounted_ caffeine filled goodness. She probably deserved it, after having to put up with all that yelling right when it was her turn to place an order. Do I get any discounts for working here? Or do I have to use all of my earnings from the day? I hoped it wasn’t the latter.

Of course my attempts to go unnoticed by my teacher weren’t effective enough. She beamed at me, stomping in her direction. I felt extremely sorry for the poor people who got caught up in the whole ordeal. They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The small of my back hit the edge of the table and I winced. She nearly tackled me, which was way too affectionate of an action between a teacher and her student. “H-Hello, Miss Hanji.”

“Oh Eren, forget the ‘miss’! When did you start working here? I would’ve came in to say hello much earlier if I knew there was more than one person I knew, here!” _Well, you barely know me either_. “Oh! Is it your first day? How’s that squirt Levi treatin’ ya? You like it here?Are you getting paid fairly? He’s not enslaving you is here? I won’t stand for child labour. If he’s abusing you, you know where to find me!”

The way she dragged on and on reminded me of how Mikasa would ask me a book full of questions whenever she was worried, but the tone they spoke in was in no way similar. My teacher basically yelled whenever she spoke and seemed to be excited about everything in life. She was very...expressive, to say the least. A lot of ‘E’ words described her well. On the other hand, my sister was always a lot more reserved than most people I knew, soft-spoken, but not meek at all.

I’d have to answer her if I wanted her to quiet down at all. “I started a few days after school started, today’s my third day here. It’s not bad I guess, it’s a pretty cool place. You know my boss?” I would’ve said more, but I didn’t need her to blab to Levi about how stupid I sounded I was if they did know each other.

“Of course I do!” _Wow, way to sound just like Mr. Smith._ “We were besties since our high school days, and we still do everything together!” I would not have expected that. The two were polar opposites.

It was barely 9 o’ clock in the morning and the day couldn’t get any worse. Sina Academy’s very own Steve Rogers joined the party, walking through the door, dressed as professional as ever. Even though he wasn’t working today, he looked ready to give a lesson or hold a business meeting. And without a doubt, he caught the sight of me and Hanji as she continued rambling on about her and Levi. The man strided over to our table after nodding at Levi with a warm smile. I couldn’t tell when he was genuinely happy; he always had that same look on his face.

“I didn’t know Eren was your student as well.” He said, stretching his hand infront of me. I took a loose grip on it and shook it nervously. I was embarrassed, without a doubt, but a part of me was just relieved this wasn’t taking place during the hectic afternoon hours. Maybe those didn’t happen on the weekends, since there weren’t as many people working or students coming from across the street.

The situation was awkward, to say the least. I didn’t want to be caught in between two of my teachers while I worked. The fact that they were both close with my boss didn’t make things any less awkward. I do not sign up for this. Come to think of it, I didn’t sign up for anything. This job was just presented to me and sort of just happened. I figured it was better like that, just a casual thing to do  to get spare change. I remember Levi mentioned something about sorting out my job more formally today when we got the time. As long as there wasn’t more paperwork to add to my pile, I’d be good.

I sat at the table as Hanji and Mr. Smith got caught up with their own conversation. It was nice to not be the center of attention any longer, but I was still left holding my broom in silence. It  felt like a good time to get up and leave. There was dirt on the ground waiting to be swept up. Right at that moment, Levi came out from the counter, heading towards us.

“What do you two shit heads want?” He spat, giving the two dirty looks. I ended up staying a little longer to watch.

My biology teacher chortled. “I didn’t do anything wrong! I just wanted to pay you a visit today.”

“Yeah, as if screaming into my customers’ ears wasn’t anything wrong. At least Erwin had the sense to not start a riot in here.” He rolled his eyes at the two before raising an eyebrow at me. “Don’t you have work to do? Take a break when I’m not on mine.”

“Y-yes sir!” I stammered, gripping tighter on the broom.

I made myself useful and  cleaned whatever needed to be. Sweeping the floors, mopping up spills, clearing tables, you name it. Time passed quickly, and it was nearly 11 by the time I finished. But of course, there would be more tasks to complete after that. I stretched out my limbs and glanced around the shop. Some of the patrons had actually stuck around the entire time I was working, notably my two teachers. Levi was still sitting with them, discussing who even knows what. Was he even allowed to take that long of a break? I guess it wasn’t against any rules, since he was the owner. The others were managing just fine without him. I guess it was well deserved, considering he was the only one I’d seen here everyday so far, besides Petra. I never bothered to check the hours of the café yet. Was he here all day? It sounded kind of crazy.

The three of them sipped at their drinks, which I don’t remember them ever ordering. The others must’ve made them cups while I wasn’t paying attention. Levi gulped down the last of his and set the cup down before getting up from the table. Mr. Smith and Hanji both waved to him.

“Let’s get around to making you a proper employee.” Levi said, gesturing for me to wait at a free table. He came out from the employees room holding a few papers in his hands. The papers were placed down on the table, and I could now see that they were indeed applications. So much for not getting paperwork. He pulled out a pen from his pocket and handed it to me. “Just fill those out and hand them into me later, but don’t take an eternity. I’ll need them eventually, but I’m not willing to wait a year to get them. There’s not much else to say, since you already seemed to figure out where all the cleaning supplies are. I still couldn’t give a rats ass when you come in to work, but just fill in the hours you think you’ll be free. I’d like to know when I should expect your shitty ass.”

I’d already learned Levi wasn’t the kindest of employers, but his language was still a bit surprising. This guy really loved to make his point clear by adding in whatever cusses he felt were necessary. I took the papers and pen and started to fill out the forms. It was mostly basic things I’d expected to be in it, and a lot of ‘N/A’s were written in boxes that had anything to do with past work experience. Walking dogs and selling lemonade probably didn’t count.

Levi stayed sitting across from me, leaning back in his seat. He stared out the window, arms crossed on his chest. I finished filling out the papers in a couple minutes and straightened them out before handing them back.

“Alright sir, I’m done.”

So it’s official. I’m the fucking janitor of the fancy new café across the street from my school, owned by a short barista who’s buddies with half my teachers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter ouo
> 
> the next few will probably have more to do with Eren and his classmates/family until we're in Levi's POV again
> 
> I appreciate all the comments, kudos, bookmarks etc! I really do! I love reading what you guys have to say about the fic :) 
> 
> p.s: i really didn't mean to put more of the 1975 into it but the song came on when i was writing and things happened ;u; you don't have to listen to it and you can pretend the music playing is whatever you want it to be


	8. Eren Anger Mode Still Isn't as Scary as Regular Mikasa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio has a mini party at the Jaeger household that ends in a childish argument on a serious topic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M KIND OF LATE AGAIN I'M SORRY. Here have some friendship in this chapter tho. I was able to exceed the 3000 word count again, so I'm glad :'D I'm working on increasing chapter length. There were some parts that I didn't have motivation to write and therefore I couldn't write the rest properly so ugh yeah that's what happened.
> 
> Find me at pengoop.tumblr.com, and I track the tag "snk fic: morning coffee" without the quotes  
> Beta read by the wonderful Chloe, who you can find at sail-to-mithlond.tumblr.com (currently unbeta'd)  
> Edited by my sis 'cause yea
> 
> I truly appreciate all the kudos, bookmarks, and comments <3 If you have something to say or ask, please feel free to leave a comment. I reply to each one!
> 
> P.S For some reason Eren swears in this more than any other chapter probably. No reason in particular, except that I felt like there were opportunities. I hope it doesn't make it seem too OoC because I was expecting more swearing in the whole fic because Eren's a teen and Levi's a potty mouth.
> 
> P.P.S I just noticed that I subconsciously based by chapter naming system after Percy Jackson oops

Bags of chips and popcorn were falling out of my arms. I was struggling to carry all the snacks from the kitchen into the living room. The distance was incredibly short, but there was just too much to bring. Our parents went grocery shopping yesterday and we had a huge stock of junk food to pig out on (there was real food too, but I wasn’t particularly interested). I somehow managed to get the most of it to the other room, dropping it onto the carpet in front of the couches. Mikasa brought various dips and cheeses, placing them on the coffee table we pushed over to the side.

“We got shit load of food, so knock yourself else.” I patted Armin on the back before making a second trip to the kitchen. I picked up a couple large bottles of pop from the fridge and grabbed some cups on the way. I arranged them on the table the best I could, even though I knew it’d be a mess again within half an hour. It took longer than I thought it would to gather everything, but now we basically had a feast in front of us, complete with a fuck ton of  sodium, fat, and sugar. Perfect.

I _almost_ didn’t want to eat much, considering that we were planning on ordering pizza later, but my temptations got the best of me. Everybody loaded their plates with whatever was in the huge pile of snacks and poured drinks. I pretty much claimed the entire bottle of Sprite, which was probably my next favourite drink, right under nearly any form of coffee. I honestly considered just making myself multiple cups throughout the day, but something in me told me not to. My brain decided to work, for once. I didn’t need some sort of caffeine hangover. Did those even happen? Probably not like ones from  alcohol, but something of the sort. Maybe I could ask Armin if he knew anything about it later. Armin knew everything. He was a walking, talking, lovable encyclopedia.

“What movie are we going to watch?” Armin asked, scanning the large collection we had. Honestly, we had too many videos to even bother watching. First off, there was one of those cheap IKEA shelves; full of DVDs and Blu-Rays. In a similar shelf, we had a few of those really popular PS3  games, since none of us were avid console gamers. Underneath those were old VHS tapes of us as kids, along with some CDs and cassettes. Secondly, we had Netflix on the TV for awhile now, though we only used it every now and then. Finally there was the PVR and hard drive. I don’t even know how it’s possible to own that much stuff that involved pretty moving pictures. That wasn’t even counting everything on our computers. All this stuff just appeared when I wasn’t paying attention. Not all at once, of course, but we somehow acquired all this stuff even though our parents aren’t exactly big spenders. We must have collected it over the years until we got to where we were today.

I shrugged in response, allowing the other two to decide on something. I was up for anything, as long as it was somewhat amusing. I always had food and my WiFi connection to keep me company if I got bored. It took them awhile to choose a movie. After they found one, another would catch their eye and they’d end up not wanting to see either one. In the end, they settled in doing an Avengers marathon, starting with Captain America in honour of my slip up from the first day of school. It was just one time! I had the worst friends.

The Blu-Ray was inserted into the player, which took a few seconds to read the disc before the movie started playing. All three of us had seen the movie prior to today, so there was no need to refrain from mentioning spoilers. We quoted the characters from time to time and yelled out our own commentary. It was a good celebration for getting through the first week of school. After Cap finished, we put in the disc for the first Iron Man movie. We did the same thing as before, the main difference being that Tony Stark had more quote-worthy one-liners. I couldn’t pick a favourite.

We took a break after that. My ass was starting to hurt from sitting around for the most of the day. I somehow thought it was a good idea to lounge on the floor for over four hours, and I felt as if I flattened my bottom out with my own body weight. Letting out a yawn, I got up to stretch and refill on drinks and snacks. We went through a lot of it, which wasn’t really surprising. When you put three teenagers in a room with that much food, you should expect it to disappear quickly.

Instead of putting in the second Iron Man movie on, we ended up going outside for a breather. I took my bike from the garage and rode it to the park nearby our house. I had to ride slowly so I wouldn’t go too far ahead of Mikasa and Armin. This was only the third or fourth time I took my bike out since we moved into Sina, so I wasn’t too familiar with all the routes. Luckily, I knew the path to the park well enough, and both others knew the city better than me. It kind of sucked to be the average kid in the trio with two geniuses. It usually didn’t bother me much, so I never mentioned it to anybody.

The air was nice and fresh. A lot of things about Sina amazed me. I expected a lot more pollution, noise, and crime in a big city like this. Yeah, we lived on the outskirts, further away from all the commercial buildings, but even in the heart of it all, it was clean, lively, and peaceful. What I’m about to say sounds incredibly cheesy, but I genuinely felt like life was pretty damn perfect. Loving family, good friends, good school - and even a job. It wasn’t some luxurious dream or anything like that, but if somebody asked me to list one thing I was unhappy with, it’d take me awhile to think of a legitimate answer. Wait, scratch that - Horse Face. I’d get rid of Horse Face if I could.

We made it the small park in a matter of minutes. We could’ve gotten here in even less time, but we didn’t want to the rush the journey. We walked (biked in my case) at a leisurely pace. Young children and their parents ran around on the playground, giggling and smiling. A mom, who couldn’t be older than 18 pushed her baby on the swing sets. I couldn’t help smiling a bit. Teen moms were always shunned for becoming parents so early on, but people always seemed to forget the beauty of the mother-child relationship. Shit, I’ve been so sappy once I stepped out of the house.

The non-baby sized swings were all empty (for once), so we headed over in their direction. We swung in silence for a couple minutes before Armin spoke up.

“I’m glad we could hang out together today,” he said with a small smile. I shifted my gaze from the sand to make eye contact with him. “I haven’t gotten the chance to talk to you much since you moved in.” Huh? What was he going on about?

“What do you mean? I’m with you guys at lunch and last period every day. We always get to catch up with each other then.” Oops, that came out a bit too defensively. I had nothing to defend in the first place, so I had no idea why I said it like that.

He shrugged. “I guess I thought it’d be like middle school, when we practically lived together.”

That got a chuckle out of me. “It will be, I promise you.”

“Yeah,” He sighed, but he seemed content with my response. “Why don’t we study together at the library after school? I remember Mister Berner mentioning a quiz coming up soon.”

“Hmm,” I tilted my head up to look at the sky. “I guess, but I gotta work at the Wall too.”

“Oh,” he frowned and stayed silent the rest of the time there. We stayed at the park for awhile, occupying the swing set the whole time there. I overheard some other kids, around 11 or 12 complaining about how ‘big kids are jerks who think they rule the world’. Uh, sure. Wait until you’re older and you barely have enough time to do stuff like this. We only stuck around for 10 or 15 minutes anyway.

Weird, I thought. Mikasa also looked dejected. She was always kind of distant, but not like this. Maybe she was thinking about something. It wasn’t enough for me to ask her about it, not yet. If things seemed more off later on, then it wouldn’t hurt to find out what was bothering her.

“You can bike ahead, if you want.” she said. I was a bit confused, but I didn’t reject. The wind roughed up my hair, but I welcomed the breeze. It was impossible to make my hair not look  like a complete mess. I guess I came to accept it, but damn, I really needed to get that cut I was planning. It would life so much easier. I’ll add ‘unruly hair’ to my list of things I was unhappy with, so Kirstein wouldn’t be lonely.

The ride was refreshing and I felt pretty good after. I went inside to grab a glass of water before going back outside. I sat on the front step and scrolled through my Facebook newsfeed as I waited for the other two. They came by a little later, muttering things each other. I couldn’t hear what they were saying. They didn’t look all that peppy, but I stuck to the original plan of waiting it out. They’d cheer up later, or at least I hoped they did. We were having a good weekend up until now, and I wasn’t up to changing that.

We went straight back to our snacking when we re-entered the living room. I thought we were going to continue with the movie marathon, but I was wrong. For some horrible reason,Mikasa decided to play one of my baby videos. I knew which one this one was the second I saw it. My whole family loved to play it on pretty much every occasion, much to my dismay. At least it wasn’t the _worst_ one. I don’t talk about that one. In the one that was playing on our TV, I was throwing an in insane temper tantrum in a convenience store because I couldn’t get a slushy. My dad filmed in all while my mom calmed me down and the cashier laughed until he kicked us out. Armin has seen it many times, but he still laughed at it. At least the two of them weren’t being as mysterious as and gloomy now.

Mikasa switched the tape after that part of the video ended. Music that sounded like it fit in a fairy tale began playing from the speakers. No...NO, oh God NO. This was what I was dreading. I haven’t had to watch this one in a long time, and it was so much better that way. The stage curtains opened and there I was. Nine year old me, in a dress, huge scowl. My sister suppressed a giggle. I don’t remember how or why, but I got stuck playing the female lead role in a school play the three of us participated in. The teachers didn’t even make it any more masculine so I could play the role better and just expected me to go along with it happily. In this, Mikasa and Armin played a witch and wizard, respectively. They fit right in.

I groaned and hid my face in a cushion from the couch. I didn’t bother trying to turn it off, since I knew Mikasa’s ninja-like reflexes would stop me right away. I could still hear little me reluctantly reciting lines and  many other voices laughing. When that nightmare finally finished, I lowered the cushion and peered at the screen. There was a slide show of the three of us together with soft music in the background. We were adorable, there was no denying it. We had a great dynamic as a group with minimal conflict (aside from my rowdiness and Mikasa being somewhat overprotective).

“I miss those days.” Armin said, the same expression from earlier returning. Mikasa hummed in agreement. I blinked. Did something happen that I wasn’t aware of? If you asked me, not much changed since we were little. We were all attending the same school again and still stayed in each other’s company pretty often.

“You guys up for pizza yet?” I asked. Armin responded with a ‘sure’ while Mikasa simply nodded. I knew them both well enough to be able to choose toppings without asking. I always got a lot of meat, Mikasa kept it simple with just cheese, and Armin had a thing for mushrooms and pineapples. I didn’t feel like talking with anybody on the phone, so I ordered online, which was always easier anyway. We took turns playing a game called ‘The Titan’s Advance’, which was a hit from the summer. It quickly became one of our favourites, though we didn’t play too often. We each designed characters in it based on ourselves. Mikasa was the best at it, having a well rounded soldier at a high level. I had an average character, with balanced skills. Armin had an amazing strategist. I liked to think that they’re who we’d be if we were born into another world.

The pizza arrived a little later and we ate quietly. Though we could talk for hours, we could also stay silent for long periods of time. We didn’t need to share many words to understand each other. Their moods seemed to lift, slightly, but they still weren’t their usual selves. Alright, time to find out what the hell was up.

“What’s with you guys?” Fuck, I sounded too aggressive again. “You two have been acting weird since we were at the park, and it’s getting me kinda worried.”

The two shared glances before Mikasa gave a small nod. “Well,” Armin began. “We’re both feeling kind of ignored lately.” _What?_

“You always rush off after school, sometimes you don’t even say a word before you’re gone.” He continued. But there was no denying his claim, I knew I did that when I was excited. ”I thought we’d be doing more now that we can see each other more often again. You’ve rejected both Reiner and Marco’s offers to hang out together, but you were worried about making friends, weren’t you?”

That was another true statement. “I just have things to do,” I shrugged. “I got a new job an I don’t want to disappoint my boss.”

“You never wanted one before.” Mikasa says, giving me _that_ look. She always used _that_ look when I did something stupid or upset here.

“Well, I had the offer, and why not.”

“He basically forced you to work there because you broke a cup.”

“Two, actually.” I corrected.

“You know what I mean.”

I wiped my fingers on a napkin and folded my arms. “He suggested the idea, and I accepted. We already went over this.” She didn’t even have a problem with me going out yesterday, so what was this whole thing about?

Armin frowned. “You seem really invested in it, and that’s good! It’s good that you found something you’re interested in, but it’s just that..”

“Just what?”

“All you ever talk about is the coffee shop, but we still barely know anything about it! You mention names but we can never follow what you’re saying because we don’t know anything about the place. Sometimes you just blank out completely.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I knew exactly what he was talking about. “I complain about Mister Smith’s assignments a lot to.”

“We just don’t feel as important to you anymore.” Mikasa stated.

“It’s only the first week, i’m settling into everything! Calm the fuck down! It’s not like I completely forgot about you two!” I could feel my blood heating up, and fuck, I really hope than Eren Anger mode was not kicking in.

“That’s the problem! It’s only the first week, and I expected to grow a little apart from you later on, but you aren’t even making friends! You’re just obsessed with the coffee shop across the street!”

“I have friends!” I growled. Oh, there it was. Eren Anger mode.

Armin’s expression softened.  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it like that at all! I just thought it’d-”

I cut his apology short. “Just go home already. I’ll see to you tomorrow.” I pushed myself up and stomped off towards the stairs. Mikasa called after me, but I ignored her. I slammed the door and threw myself onto my bed, the springs creaking under my weight. I stared at the ceiling and tried to shut out everything around me and inside my head. I was distracted by the voices downstairs, but when they stopped, I was able to blank out until I calmed down. When I was in a better state to think, I did a lot of it.

Armin and Mikasa were right. I really was ignoring them. I was acting like a complete dickwad in the fight too - Hell, it wasn’t even a fight until I made it one.Although, I still wanted to go to the Wall - it was like my escape. But escape from what? Earlier today I was thinking about how picture perfect everything was. It was true that I had no interest in finding a job before, and I should have been doing other things before dedicating myself to one. I still had a lot to catch up on with Armin, and I needed to get myself sorted out at Sina Academy. I guess I already found my circle of friends, which was a mix of Mikasa’s and Armin’s, so that’s one thing off my list.

 I found a compromise that I could work with. For the next week or so, I’d focus on my old friends and developing my relationship with new ones. After that, I could go back to working to the Wall. It wouldn’t hurt to just visit for a drink or snack every now and then, but I didn’t want to risk being tempted to make frequent visits that I’d forget about my original goal. That would work, right?

I let myself exit the room now that I wasn’t going to kill somebody in one of my fits. Mikasa sat alone reading on the couch, everything already cleaned up. I didn’t know how much time I spent cooling off, but it couldn’t be too long since our parents were still out.

“Hey Mikasa,” I said. Her eyes locked on mine, and I felt somewhat afraid. “I’m, uh, sorry about earlier.” I explained my whole plan to her and she nodded occasionally to show that she was listening. She seemed to think it was a decent idea, since she didn’t oppose even once.

“You should apologize to Armin.”

I nodded and grabbed my coat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eren no your ideas are shit
> 
> so the next chapter is gonna be some school stuff but then for the tenth chapter you bet there's gonna be some levi emotions and erwin/levi bromance


	9. I Can Confirm That Everybody is Indeed Crazy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Random moments from Eren's Wall-less week of high school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS I'M SO SORRY HONESTLY. I know I'm later than a week, and I posted a notice about it earlier, which you can read [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fpe6WM0HgrdsWdvTE9E1Fmm1czs_rD2X3xiMWdEWWSw/edit?usp=sharing). A freak storm hit my city last Friday and knocked out my power when I was gonna get some work done, Saturday I focused on trying to fix my USB (didn't work), and Sunday I had to go out and then finish homework. I put aside my homework and got this chapter done today to try to make up for you guys. Thank you for the people who understood.
> 
> As always thank you guys for the kudos, bookmarks and comments etc <3
> 
> I think it's safe to say I can no longer regularly update each Saturday so expect either random updates or maybe twice a month updates on Saturdays (bi-monthly?).
> 
> Find me at pengoop.tumblr.com - I track the tag "snk fic: morning coffee" without the quotes  
> Beta'd by Chloe, at sail-to-mithlond.tumblr.com (currently unbeta'd)
> 
> P.S Connie tells a story that's kind of disturbing so just skip if you want.

School ended up being a lot more fun than I expected it to be. Don’t get me wrong - school still sucks horse dick, but it wasn’t complete hell. I didn’t have the constant urge to slap somebody, nor did we have (many) ridiculously stupid assignments to complete. To be completely honest, I was really glad that I wasn’t day dreaming about my short but totally hot barista all day. I would’ve missed out on some golden moments.

The first one occurred during English class, bright and early in the morning. We were given another small project for the week that had to do with connecting life stories to literature. Pick a story, describe how it relates to your life or the real world, blah blah. Mr. Smith thought it’d be a smart idea to have a class discussion about it before we began, but of course, he was completely wrong. I didn’t think my life was all that boring before, but after today, I felt dull in comparison to everybody else. My experiences couldn’t even touch theirs. Some of the stories weren’t even all exciting when you thought about it, but shit, they knew how to make it sound like a god damn movie.

Ymir’s was probably the best of them all. Or worst. Depends how you look at it.

“I remember back in sophomore year I signed up for the male fitness class and pretty much got away with it for a month. And I’m a girl, believe it or not.” A few people snickered. “The sights I’d seen during that time period were things I could never forget, even if I bleached my brain. If you couldn’t already tell, Reiner Braun is the definition of a bara boy. He’s beefy and strong and likes to wear speedos. But he acts like the most fabulous person ever in the change rooms. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve seen him skipping and dancing around with the other kids in the class. I got suspended later but it was probably worth it in the end.” She finished her story leaning back in her chair, smirk on her face. I was so glad Mr. Smith was so laid back.

Connie’s got a good laugh out of me too. It was pretty damn disgusting and illegal as fuck but the way he said it was comedic gold.

“Alright, buckle up you guys. ‘Cause there’s some real shit going down and you’ll want to make sure you’re ready for this. You too, Erwin.” Our teacher rolled his eyes but didn’t call him out for it. “Okay, to be honest it’s not that cool but I needed to get you guys pumped and shit y’know? Alright, well, first I was just on the subway trying to get to that big mall that opened in the summer. Don’t remember what it’s called exactly, but I’m sure you all know the one. It’s fancy and big and blah blah.” I had no idea what he was talking about. Everything was fancy and big. “So yeah, I’m on the subway, it’s pretty empty at first. My parents didn’t want to drive me so I was pretty thankful for that and I’m like, yeah, this is good. And then, next thing you know, this crowd starts forming and all sorts of people come on. There’s this one guy who looks like a pretty big slob and he ends up sitting in the corner with his phone out. I can see his screen a bit from where I am, but not that clearly. So the ride is okay, until I hear him grunting. So me, being a great citizen, ask him ‘you okay man?’ but I catch a glimpse of his screen before I do and I swear he was watching porn. Some kinky shit. So I slink back and sit down. He keeps trying to switch his page when he thinks somebody is looking and trying to be discreet but he’s jacking off - luckily nobody saw his dick - and just fuck that was gross.”

I agreed with the last statement. I heard of this kind of stuff but I didn’t know it actually happened.

 

* * *

 

I found myself in the front of the bus, facing what all public transit riders feared. I couldn’t believe this was happening. This was an absolute nightmare. The double strollers. The loud crowd of students. The couple making out. The guy who doesn’t realize (or care) how loud his shitty music is playing. The mom struggling to keep her kids out of trouble. Bags on seats. Half-eaten food and drink sliding around the floor. To top it all off, horrible traffic and a bus driver who’s grouchy even on a tamer day. Fuuuck. Hopefully this won’t play out like Connie’s story from yesterday.

Placing my fare into the box, I tried to get as far into the vehicle as I could. I was _not_ going to be that person who just stood there in the front of the bus, blocking access whatever space was available behind them. I hated those types of  people. I hated a lot of the people on the bus right now. Well, I guess you can’t blame kids for being overly energetic or the moms who had to bring their children with them, but everybody else had no excuse. It’s not that hard to speak a little quieter or keep your bag on your lap. Being a fairly social teen myself, I knew that people’s sense of self control wasn’t as strong when friends were around, but I really didn’t need 100 decibels in my ear.

I was practically still half asleep when I got on. I was still feeling groggy and my morning was not off to a good start. I got up 20 minutes late, rushing through everything and going out looking like a slob. Though Mikasa waited for me to get ready instead of leaving before me, she still complained about how long I was taking the entire time and scolded me for not being more responsible. I knew she was right, but that didn’t mean I _wanted_ to hear it. Thankfully she stopped when we finally got out of the house. I wanted to have a semi-peaceful nap on the ride to school, but I guess that wasn’t happening anymore.

The bus was full for the nearly the entire time the two of us were on it, and I didn’t bother counting how many times I nearly toppled over when I started to doze off and the bus shook. I’m not sure how I was falling asleep with all the noise, but I wouldn’t get proper rest anyway. There weren’t any free seats for the first 20 minutes, and it wouldn’t be worth if I’d have to wake up not long after. I’d probably end up missing my stop if Mikasa wasn’t there to wake me up when we got to Sina. I can imagine the look on my Mr. Smith’s face when I’d have to explain to him why I missed half of class. What would I say? That Mikasa didn’t want to wait for her lazy brother anymore?

I was finally able to claim a seat, but Sina was less than 5 stops away. But I’m lazy and useless, so I sat down instead of staying standing until I got off. Everytime the bus unloaded, a new crowd came on. I was lucky I was able to find an empty space to sit at. I vaguely recognized a lot of the other students. They were all people from Sina that I saw around school lot but never learned the name of. None of them were in my classes anyway, so I wouldn’t have to worry about embarrassing myself when I don’t know what to call them. The majority of Armin’s friends didn’t take the bus, and they were the only people I really talked to much.

I don’t think of my myself as shy - no, not at all - but moving to a new place was making me act a lot more meek and cautious of myself. I had a reputation to build here, and I couldn’t do something stupid. I guess I was starting to warm up to my teachers and classmates. Armin’s circle of friends quickly became mine and some of their friends joined us. Like some big happy senior family. Yeah, that was pretty nice. Once I got to know them better, I’d be free to return to being the usual loud and overly passionate Eren. This other Eren was too foreign. I can’t remember the last time I was like this. I knew everybody back in Shiganshina; the other kids, their families, shop keeps...Yeah.

I exited the bus and took a deep breath. Here’s to another crazy day.

 

* * *

 

Sasha and Connie had as much food as Mikasa, Armin and I did last weekend. They laid had it lying on the floor of the common room in a similar fashion as we did and were in the middle of dividing it into two equal piles. There was at least two of each item, one for each pile. None of us  were completely sure what they were doing, but knowing them, it was probably something stupid like an eating contest. I never understood the point of those, but they were fun enough to watch. I knew Connie could eat a lot when he wanted to, but I swear Sasha had a black hole in her stomach or something. That girl was like a bottomless pit. He had nothing on her.

Once they were finished, I heard Reiner countdown from 5 as he stared at a stop watch he held in his right hand. “2, 1...Go!” He pushed the top button down on the last word and the timer began.

I leaned in closer to him and whispered in his ear. “What’s their goal?” I asked.

“Finish eating as fast as you can. Whoever finishes first or eats more wins.”

“I’ll bet you five dollars Sasha will.”

He threw his head back in laughter. “Why would I do that? I’d basically be giving you free money.”

“Exactly. Don’t you feel generous today Reiner?”

“Haha, not particularly Eren.”

I pouted at him, folding my arms across my chest to add to the effect. “C’mon, don’t you wanna help a brother out?”

He shook his head at me with a smile. Dammit Reiner.

I missed a good amount of the action. Connie was desperately shoving food into his mouth, chewing as quickly as he could. I could tell that he was choking on it, and he had to chug a lot of water to wash it down. I was starting to worry about the safety of the competition, but something told me these guys have done this before and never suffered any serious consequences. Now Sasha on the other hand, was having the time of her life. Her eyes showed not only her determination, but her enjoyment of having the excuse to eat this much. She was far, far ahead of the bald boy.

The nutrition information wasn’t something I wanted to think about. This couldn’t be healthy for a multitude of reasons. The amount of food they were eating, the content of said food, the speed…Somebody pray that fate takes mercy on their poor souls. I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but Sasha was on her last bag of chips while Connie had at least a third of his pile left. He groaned, and clutched at his stomach. He placed his chin on the table while still in the middle of coughing.

“I can’t do this anymore.” he declared.

Sasha’s eyes were looking a little wet. Was she crying? Why would she be crying?

She chomped down on the snack, the tears that were welled up in her eyes beginning to stream down her face. Throwing her head up, she moaned loudly. “This is the best day of my life!”

I guess we have a winner (as expected).

 

* * *

 

Marco ran after me in the halls right after the lunch bell rang.

“Eren!” He called. I span around to meet his gaze, nearly hitting somebody with my bag in the procress.

“There’s a meeting for the senior boys soccer team down in the gym, and you really should come down with Jean and I! A lot of our star players graduated so we need some more people...And heh, judging from how you’re doing in fitness, you look like exactly who we need.”

This guy was way too nice. I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks and I was left slightly dumbfounded. I blinked a couple times at him and I could see his excitement begin to fade.

“Well, you don’t have to of course. I don’t want to pressure you but you seem to have a lot of sk-”

“I’d love to.”

“Really?” I nodded in response. I wasn’t the best at soccer but I played fairly often back in Shiganshina. I needed to start joining some clubs here and I couldn’t turn Marco down like that. He was wearing a huge grin on his face as he motioned for me to follow him. At the end of the hall, Jean stood tapping his foot impatiently.

 

* * *

 

Our group started eating in the hallways instead of the cafeteria. We lost our table one day and we didn’t bother getting it back yet. Probably some freshman kids who couldn’t be bothered. We chatted about our classes and teachers rather than the usual topic of literally-anything-else. We complained about homework and annoying classmates like any other high school students at first.

I somehow ended up sharing the story about how I ran into Mr. Smith and Hanji while working at the Wall. It was as awkward as ever to recall, and everybody’s reactions didn’t make me feel any better about it. Though slightly embarrassing, I felt as if it made me belong in their group a little more. Making friends is all about making people laugh. At least that’s how the first stage goes.

“Ugh, and he kissed my boss in front of me too. I think they’re dating or something and I can’t get these weird mental images out of my mind whenever I mention it.” I groaned and covered my face with both hands.

“Wait, you mean shorty barista and Mister Smith are fucking each other?” Jean nearly yelled.

There couldn’t have been a better time for Mr. Smith to exit his classroom.

 

* * *

 

Other than that one awkward moment during lunch, I barely thought about the café the entire week. I was a little proud of myself, as stupid as it may sound. I decided I could focus on school a little longer until I was completely settled in. Then I’d allow myself to go back to The Wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lololololol i'm sorry if this chapter was all over the place and kind of a mess of dumb teen things i wrote this over 2 weeks and yeah
> 
> oh and sorry if certain 104th members are mentioned way more it's just its easier to write things about them im sorry i promise it'll be more equal later
> 
> levi pov next chapter hella it's gonna be pretty fun and hopefully up soon if i'm not busy
> 
> love you guys! <3 
> 
> please tell me if there's any issues cause it was kind of rushed editing


	10. Get Your Hands Off Me and Get Your Shit Together Erwin (Levi POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi helps Erwin move in. Erwin is touchy. Levi is not worried about the absence of one of his employees, nope, not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow guy I'm late and it's safe to say regular updates are pretty much impossible now. I've written little portions of this chapter over the past...2 weeks? And finished it up today. I don't know how some people are able to write 5 to 10k words in day when it takes me so long to be able to write 2 or 3k.
> 
> I think this chapter is kind of fun? But to be honest I'm disappointed in it because it took me so long to actually write it and I forgot a lot of the things I wanted to put in it :c
> 
> I love all you dearies who still read this fic and have left nice comments, kudos, and bookmarks. I appreciate them! They help motivate me a little more :D
> 
> Find me at pengoop.tumblr.com, and I track the tag "snk fic: morning coffee" without the quotes  
> Beta'd by Chloe, at sail-to-mithlond.tumblr.com (currently un-beta'd)

I grabbed the last of Erwin’s things from his silver Camaro. I liked this car a lot better than his old 1967 Fastback Mustang. Less swanky. He didn’t have as many things as I expected, so we didn’t have to make too many trips back and forth from my apartment to his vehicle in the parking lot. We took the stairs instead of the shitty elevator. That thing didn’t work the majority of the time, and it wasn’t worth even trying. The stairs were much less crowded anyways. There were always too many idiots testing their luck using the elevator.

I placed the box down on top of the other larger one and stretched out my muscles. Erwin stretched in a similar fashion after he put the boxes he was carrying down. I picked up a box cutter from my kitchen drawer and toss it to him - and no, the blade isn’t out -  I’m not a fucking idiot. He immediately began cutting the tape and unloaded his possessions, taking them out, giving them a quick look, and putting them on the table, floor and couch. The disorganization bothered me, but I couldn’t really complain. It’d be too much work to try to put everything away before getting it all laid out in front of us. I didn’t want to find out what exactly Erwin brought into my home weeks, months, or even years later. I trusted him to be a little less fucked up than Hanji, but hey, you never know about this kind of stuff.

There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary coming out of his boxes - at least, not yet. It was all things that I expected of him; his nearly entirely professional wardrobe, his favourite coffee mug, some photos, personal hygiene products, all that shit. Typical Erwin Smith right there. I’d known him for quite a few years now, and he never changed much over the time. His shoulders may’ve gotten broader, he may’ve gained a couple inches (fuck that guy, he was already tall enough) and he may’ve became more experienced in life, but it was always just Erwin. I liked that. I wouldn’t have to worry about one of my best friends - one of my _only_ friends - becoming a whole other person.

I gazed at all the items laying on the various surfaces of my apartment.  “Is that really all you have? I was expecting more from a fancy fucker like you.”

The blond responded with a low chuckle. “I’m not that rich Levi. Shouldn’t you be happy about that anyways? It’s less for you to have to organize and clean.”

“Tch. You have the expensive car and everything. I don’t even know why you’re moving in with me when you could afford to live on your own just fine.”

Erwin shrugged. “Maybe I was getting lonely on my own.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “And I’m getting sick of you tracking all sorts of filth into my apartment.” He glanced down at his feet and realized he hadn’t taken his shoes off. Sighing, he walked over to the door to leave his dirty footwear there. _Finally._

My fridge wasn’t very well stocked today. I was planning on making lunch for us while Erwin put all his things away, but I completely forgot to do my groceries beforehand. I had decided to put up with it. It wasn’t like I was some rich chef who owns a five-star restaurant anyway. I could cook well-enough, but I never made anything special. I don’t need too many ingredients or an overpriced Kitchenaid appliance. With a little effort, whatever I had at home could be made into a good enough meal.

“I hope you like eating big ass omelettes, ‘cause that’s all you’re getting for lunch today.” I said, taking out six eggs, cheese, and mixed vegetables. Erwin hummed in agreement and poked his head around my apartment. It wasn’t his first time here, nor was my apartment a very large space, but I guess he hasn’t had much of a chance to really explore. I had no idea how long he’d stay here with me, but he’d need to get comfortable. It was going to be at least a few months.

After I finished cooking the eggs, I set two plates out on the island and split the omelette into halves. I stepped back into the kitchen to put the frying pan into the sink to wash after. “Oi, eyebrows, your lunch is ready.”

Erwin laughed upon hearing the nickname, emerging from my bedroom. He took the seat beside me and dug right into his meal. After chewing and swallowing his first bite, he tried to start a conversation with me. Not like it was hard for him anyways; he had this fucking amazing charisma and charm that made everybody fall in love with him instantly. “So Levi, do you only have one bed in here?”

Fuck, I forgot about that too. “Unfortunately.” I grunted. “But because I’m such the sweet and caring guy, I’ll let you get cozy in my bed while I sit my ass down on the couch every night.”

“We could always sleep together again…” He let his voice trail off and he gave me a wink. Ugh. We both knew that neither of us harboured any sort of romantic feelings for each other since we broke up, but he insisted on flirting with me every single day as if we were never in a relationship in the first place. I’d grown somewhat used to the teasing, but it was horrible when he kept up the act in public. Sometimes people forgot we weren’t together anymore or never knew we broke up at all. Petra couldn’t even tell that we weren’t a couple when she first met him. I sighed. At least I knew that he wasn’t being serious. I didn’t want to be a complete asshole and force him to sleep on the couch, but I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about it either.

“Don’t touch me and we have a deal.” I said, taking a bite of the omelette. “And don’t even think about going near my bed without showering and changing into clean clothes first. I will skin you alive if you dare fuck up a single thing while you’re here.”

“I already know the whole drill. You can’t have a single speck of dust on your furniture without having an hour long temper tantrum over it.”

“Temper tantrums?” I felt my eye twitch at the accusation. “I’m not a shitty 5 year old who whines about not getting the new Leap Pad.”

“Hm? Are you sure about that Levi? You _are_ smal-” I threw a punch at him before he could finish his sentence, but of course, the bastard somehow managed to evade it. Getting the hint, he changed the topic. “So how has Sina been treating you? Is the big city life getting to you yet?”

I took a few seconds to ponder the question myself. It didn’t take me as long as I thought it would to settle into the new location. I am a man of routine and leaving home to move into a new one was one of the biggest changes in my life. Opening the new cafe had gone smoothly and both of my highschool friends were also employed here, literally just across the street. The constant bustling around of people outside and commotion of people rushing around was new, but not unwelcome. There were quite a few factors that made these changes easier to accept. The rent for the apartment wasn’t one of the best things about moving in here, but it was a lot better of an option than travelling for an hour every fucking morning.

“The Wall is doing good. A lot of clients, the workers are actually competent for once, and I like the place. Life’s not bad right now.” I shrugged and continued eating.

“Well, Levi, well.”

I cocked an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean ‘well’?”

“You said that The Wall is doing good, but that isn’t grammatically correct. It’s doing _well_.”

I groaned in response to that comment. “I forgot that you were an English teacher. How are those shitty brats treating you? Do you need me to go two all the stores in town to buy you some Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer tea now?”

He shook his head, eyes closed, wearing a smile. “No no no, they could be a lot worse. That new Eren kid sure is an interesting character though.”

That’s when I remembered how I hadn’t seen the kid for a week. He was stupidly excited about working with at my new café as if was an honour for him to be privileged with the ability sweep the god damn floors or clean up after lazy customers. Okay, maybe it was an honour for _him_ considering how much of an idiot this guy was. An interesting idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. I didn’t know why I let him stick around, but he was okay at cleaning. Just okay. Nothing more.

I was not worried about him, no, not at all. There was no reason for me to be be worried about the fact that he didn’t show up for work even once the last week. He didn’t come in for a drink either, and I was not worried about that. He was never obligated to come to work regularly, and I shouldn’t have expected for a kid like him to even know the definition of commitment. He probably just wanted to buy a skateboard or whatever teenagers like these days. I worked as a teen because I needed to if I wanted to eat that day.

No, I was not concerned about the kid. I was just...surprised, if anything. He acted into it enough, but he obviously had other priorities. “So, the Jaeger kid. He hasn’t died or anything, has he?” Okay, maybe I was just a little curious of his whereabouts.  But not worried, not at all.

Erwin didn’t seem to expect the question. “Um, no? He seems to be doing better actually. Why do you ask?”

“He hasn’t been in the shop for awhile. I got used to him doing the dirty work, and when he didn’t show up, I thought he got murdered in an alleyway or something.”

“Hm? Really? I could ask him about it.”

“Don’t you even try.”

“Any reason you’re so opposed to it?”

“Because it doesn’t matter.”

“Then why’d you ask in the first place?”

“Tch.” I finished the last of my lunch and got up to start doing the dishes. Erwin said that the kid didn’t get himself killed, and that’s all I needed to know. He followed me into the kitchen to drop off his plate before leaning back on the counter.

“You know,” he began, wearing a familiar mischievous expression. “Eren said some pretty interesting things about you and I on Friday.”

I met his gaze, trying to maintain my indifferent expression. I didn’t want to look too eager to hear what the brat has been saying about me. It’s not like I cared about his opinion of me. I didn’t care what anybody thought about me at all.

“I exited my classroom at lunch and was greeted by Jean.” Ah, Jean, I knew that one from when he ordered a drink at The Wall. He had a long face that was hard to forget. “I heard him yelling about thinking that we were sleeping together, followed his awkward attempt to cover up the story.” He laughed. “Trying to say that he was talking about another Mister Smith, but the fact that he seemed so embarrassed gave it away. You aren’t with another Smith, are you dear?”

I took another swing at him, but missed again. “This is exactly why people can’t tell that we’re not dating. You should cut it out.”

“Oh, but you love it.” Erwin patted my head affectionately and planted a soft kiss onto my cheek.

I pushed him away immediately and gagged. “You’re disgusting.”

* * *

 

 

The day went like any other. We finished unpacking Erwin’s things, watched the shitty soaps on TV, and went out for dinner at a nearby burger joint. Though I offered to pay the bill, Erwin was able to beat me to it. Though I didn’t want to mention it, I was slightly relieved that I could keep that money in my pocket. Until the tip jar at the coffee shop was more full, the more money saved the better. One perk of having the bastard stay at my apartment, other than companionship, was that he cut the rent in half, paying his own share. It hurt my pride at first, but I knew that I could use the help.

After showering, I changed into my sleepwear, consisting of a loose black t-shirt and drawstring pants. I climbed into the right side of the bed, pulling the duvet over me. Erwin walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. I got up again and opened a dresser drawer, throwing a plain white shirt and pyjama pants at him. I went back to bed and turned off the lamp on my nightstand.

“Remember - No. Fucking. Touching.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> erwin's just a big tease i'm sorry guys
> 
> i have so many half finished doodle things for this fic 
> 
> should i just post them?


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